On The Other Side
by DarkHououmon
Summary: We are all atoms. Atoms vibrate. There are different frequencies. Infinite dimensions exist. A change in frequency results in shifting to another dimension...
1. Same Time, Different World

Disclaimer: I do not own The Wild Thornberrys, but I do own the alternate versions of Eliza, Debbie, Nigel, Marianne, Sloan, Bree, Kip, and Biederman. I also own the characters Jon and Adam. Happy reading!   
Author's note: This took me weeks to get ready, so don't be so harsh if it isn't any good. This is a very long story and possibly the first Wild Thornberrys saga...if you can call this that. ; This story may be called Violent, but that's mainly 'cause Eliza's alternate family is poachers. Well, I hope you enjoy this story. I was happy to write it. And warning: This isn't chaptered because it was too much of a hassle. So don't try and read it all in one try. ;) 

Second notice: I have added new scenes to this story. A few more will follow, including a scene that better explains to what happened to Elizabeth at the end of the story, plus a possible scene from the upcoming sequel, "Return to Dark Dimension". 

Updated notice: All the new scenes have been added, including the preview from the next story. I also finally took the time to divide this story into chapters for much easier reading. ; Sorry it took me this long…but I was too lazy to do it. Oo; 

Yet another updated notice: I have a job now. So I can't update my work much. But I did manage to go around and fix the paragraphs in here so that you can read it better. XD Hope this is easier to read.   


ADDITIONAL INFO: 

Soundtrack: 

1. In The Sea-America (The Last Unicorn)   
2. Make The Change-??? (Digimon Frontier Dub)   
3. Father And Daughter-Paul Simon (The Wild Thornberrys Movie)   
4. End Of Forever-Nick Carter (The Wild Thornberrys Movie)   
5. Look Through My Eyes (Brother Bear) 

Basic Info: 

Alternate Titles: The Dark End/Violent   
Rated PG-13 for blood, violence, and scenes that may be disturbing for younger viewers. 

On The Other Side   
Story by DarkHououmon   
  
  
  
  
  


A switch was pushed. A lever was pulled down. A chugging sound filled the room. Smoke, black smoke, rose high. A wailing sound of a siren sounded off. A door opened and a sudden wind power shot out. The man in the room backed away, and shielded his eyes. "Such power…It's perfect!" He sneered. The black mass whipped itself together, and seemed to have eyes of its own. It began to move along April Springs. The man stepped from the shadows. "The vortex worked perfectly." The sun's rays began to bathe his body in golden light. It was slowly revealing the man. "Say your prayers, Eliza Thornberry." As the light had covered him completely, he was revealed to be one other than…Sloan Blackburn! 

Eliza felt a bit strange being in the same location where she had fallen deathly ill. It was evening, and she decided to go for a walk alone. She insisted that Darwin stay behind to rest. He had already done enough running from that jaguar, and enough walking in the giant maze she found. It would be senseless to let him come with her without proper rest. Donnie had tried to come with, but Eliza wanted to be alone. She seemed to want to reflect on the incident, and her parents understood. They allowed her to go, but only if she comes back before nightfall, and doesn't stray too far in case she is injured. The girl slowly walked in the desert, close to the cliffs where she had once collapsed. It was at that moment that she realized how fragile life can be, and she learned not to take it for granted. But she never really did that, not that she remembered. 

The wind seemed to be picking up rather quickly. She took this as odd, since the weather man never mentioned anything like this. The skies grew slightly darker, and the clouds thickened. Eliza started to worry. _'Maybe I should head back..'_ She turned and started back towards the Commvee. But every step became a struggle, harder and harder. The wind was increasing in strength and velocity rapidly, and seemed to be pushing Eliza backwards, no matter which direction she turned. She gasped as she saw something like a tornado, but smaller, heading in her direction! Dust was kicked up into the air, suffocating Eliza, and she could see large rocks embedded in the ground being lifted out effortlessly as though they were pebbles. The tornado drew closer, and Eliza fell on her stomach. She dug her nails into the surface of the land called April Springs. But try as she might, she just could not prevent herself from being pulled backwards towards the petite twister. Her nails scraped against the ground, leaving thin trails in their wake. 

Closer and closer to the twister she got. She closed her eyes tightly, gritted her teeth, and hugged the ground as tightly as humanly possible. She wasn't going down that easily! _'I have to hang on! I just have to hang on!'_ Her mind screamed. She soon realized that she wasn't being pulled upwards, but only backwards. 'Why is this?' She thought. 'Shouldn't a tornado lift anything it can up? If it could lift those boulders up, surely it can lift me up, not that I want it to.' Her thoughts were cut short as the black wind engulfed her, surrounding her body. She wasn't twirling around like she had expected. Instead, she found herself trapped around a swirling wind mass of black clouds. The ground that she stood on broke away quickly, and, screaming as loud as she could in fright, fell through a dark void. She was falling through a huge mass of nothingness that she could have sworn was the legendary abyss. 

"Eliza!" Marianne shouted as she stood on the camp grounds. Eliza had been gone 45 minutes after dark, and although that was normal for her, Marianne couldn't help but worry. "Where are you?" She cupped her hands together in fear when Eliza never responded. She was either hurt or had strayed too far from camp. Nigel had already gone out to look for the missing girl. Debbie stayed behind under command of her father. He did not want to risk having both daughters lost out there in April Springs. "I don't know what's happened." Marianne said as she sat down next to the blonde teenager, who was reading Teenage Wasteland's latest edition. 

She peered over above the pages, took a quick stare at her mom, and went on reading again. "I'm sure Eliza's fine. She usually is." But in her heart, she was just as fearful as her mom was. The woman sighed, and crossed her legs, and clasped her hands together. 

"But I just can't help but be worried, Debbie. It's not like your sister to disappear like this." Debbie glanced over again. Marianne stood up from the bench, and looked out towards the horizon. "I just know something is wrong. Something terrible has happened. I just know it!" She choked back tears, and Debbie continued to read, trying not to worry too much. She knew Eliza could take care of herself. 

_'Especially since she can talk to animals.'_ She thought bitterly. Ever since she'd been told that, she had a warning. If she told anyone Eliza's secret, Debbie would turn into a baboon. Debbie hissed at the thought. But she also knew that Eliza had no choice. _'She revealed her secret to save my life. Goodness knows what would have happened if she had not done that.'_ She didn't want to think about it. She just hoped that her dad would find her little sibling and bring her home. 

Then they heard the familiar sound of Nigel's grunting as he walked back towards the Commvee. Marianne bolted towards him, but froze in her tracks when she saw no Eliza with him. "Nigel, didn't you find her?" 

The man panted heavily as thought he had been running form something. "No, I'm afraid not, lovely. All I found were long scratch marks." He pointed in the direction that he had found them. "If they were Eliza's, someone had dragged her away somewhere, but when I followed them, they just…" He shrugged, "…disappeared. Maybe they picked her up or something. But I couldn't find anything else, Marianne." Marianne had a hard time taking this all in. She shook her head in denial. 

"She's been kidnapped?" 

Nigel shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. It's a possibility." The woman grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him roughly. 

"Our youngest daughter is missing! We've got to do something!" The man grasped the woman's hands and pried them off his shoulders. He looked sternly and deeply into Marianne's eyes. 

"Calm down, deary. We just need to alert the authorities. They'll know what to do." Marianne sniffed, a few tears running down her face. She nodded slowly, a sad smile on her face. 

They walked towards camp, and Debbie stood up immediately. "Did you find her?" 

As Marianne went into the Commvee to grab a few things, Nigel shook his head, "'Fraid not, Deborah. We have to go to the authorities and tell them about what had happened." 

Marianne came out to say to Debbie, "You're coming with, Debbie. We need as much information to give them as possible." The teen nodded with no argument. As they prepared to leave, Debbie looked over at the horizon in deep thought. _'Eliza, where are you?'_

Eliza Thornberry suddenly awoke to a strange headache. "What happened?" She murmured to herself. The last thing she remembered was being.... sucked in...with a strange force. Sucked in? Did that sound right? The girl slowly climbed to her feet, and brushed herself off. Her head still heard, and she felt a little groggy. But she knew she had to keep herself up. She had no idea where she was, and she could be in danger any minute... 

"I wish I knew where mom and dad were." Eliza looked at the horizon ahead. It looked like it was a gigantic rug. _'Forest.... it's a forest.'_ She told herself. What looked like a gigantic rug turned out to be just hills covered in trees. She thought it was an interesting and beautiful sight, but she had to get going. Perhaps someone around here could inform her of where she is, and how she could contact her parents. They may be worried sick about her! Well, she was only gone for a minute, but they may notice she's missing, and go frantic. Eliza placed a hand over her head and scanned the horizon. 

_'It seems like this is...some kind of forest located in...Africa? How did I get back here?' _The place where Eliza was originally was Australia. Her parents had gone there to film some type of wallaby. There's no way she could've gotten all the way back to Africa alone.....and not this fast, she added mentally. "I just have to find some help!" With that, the girl finally began running. She could feel the breeze push against her face, and her feet dig into the hard yet soft dirt of the Savannah. 

She stopped suddenly as she heard the sound of a gunshot._ 'Oh no...poachers?!'_ She began breathing quickly. She began to sweat a little, and looked around frantically. She didn't know if was hunters or poachers, but she didn't want to take her chances with either of them. She heard another gunshot...this one was a tad closer. Eliza let out a scream of surprise, and bolted to the nearest tree. She climbed up, and clinged on to a branch. The branch was a bit thick, and wobbly, but she was still able to maintain a grasp. She looked around the area, and attempted to search for any signs of poachers, or even life. She found something moving through the tall grassy area. She narrowed her eyes to get a closer look, but it was no use. The figure was too fast.... 

She sighed. She hadn't heard any gun shots after the second one for a few seconds. She believed that the shootings were over. She looked to the ground, and jumped off the tree. She fell to her knees, and then climbed back up again. Her knees were a little scraped, but nothing major. She took another look ahead of her. "There's poachers in this area...I just know it. I have to inform the authorities right away." Then she looked around the place again. She didn't see any smoke, no road, no machinery...no signs of human life. _'The question is...how am I going to tell anyone?'_ She looked around her, and suddenly felt a little scared. She knew she couldn't remain scared for long. She would have to sooner or later get up and start looking around for means of escape. 

Eliza started to walk across the grassy plains. She was hoping that if she continued in one direction, she would eventually run into someone she knew could help her. She faintly remembered that this was where she ran into Sloan and Bree Blackburn for the first time. She squinted her eyes and could see the railroad tracks that snaked across the Savannah. She knelt down and stared at the barren ground. She did so remember when she tried to help that black rhino...She felt the ground for any signs of dried blood. She found nothing... _'It must've dried up pretty quickly.'_ She rubbed her right arm with her left hand, and closed her eyes. She did recognize this place too well. But now she didn't know where to go...or who to turn to. She decided to keep walking on. Perhaps she'll run into someone who could help her get back to her parents. 

She did hear some sudden noises. "What was that?" She asked softly. She thought she heard something, like a scream. She then saw some rustling in the bushes. "What?" She peered closer to the bush. Something was moving in there, she knew it. She stepped closer, careful not to make a sound. She kept her head low, and her back arched up. She slowly moved her arms out, and pushed the branches away. There, huddled up in a small ball, was a cheetah cub. 

It kinda looked like Tally, except this cheetah cub looked female, and she had a stripe going across her eyes rather than had the glasses-like stripe go around her eyes. She looked up and saw Eliza. Her ears folded back, and she gave a small hiss. She spoke little worlds, "Get away from me." 

Eliza was taken aback by this sudden display of fierceness. Why did this cub want her to leave? Didn't this cheetah cub recognize her? Perhaps that this is a cheetah cub she's none too familiar with. The human decided to reply back, just to get a reason, "What's wrong?" Now it was the cheetah's turn to look surprised. Her ears perked up straight and her eyes flashed open widely. 

Raising a paw slightly, she asked, "You....you can talk?" 

Eliza smiled. "Of course I can." She knelt closer, but the cub just backed off a little. "What's wrong? Why are you moving back from me?" 

"Because..the last time I saw you...you were about to...." 

But before the cub could finish a shot rang out. Eliza Thornberry could feel a bullet shoot past her, just barely missing her and the cub. She panicked, and quickly grabbed the cub. "Come on, we have to go!" She gritted her teeth as she tried to look for a place to hide. 

The cheetah cub set her sights on a nearby tree. She raised a paw up and pointed in that direction. "How about over there? We should be safe there!" 

The 12-year-old looked in that direction, and solemnly shook her head. "No, cub. That's too far away...." She breathed quickly and sharply. She listened as more bullets were shot their way. "There has to be a place to go!" She set the cheetah cub down. She instructed her to go run and hide as fast as she could. Eliza was going to try and find some way to stall whoever was coming. The cub nodded quickly and took off like lightning, dashing up the tree faster than one could blink an eye. Eliza smiled, then turned in the direction of which the bullets were coming from. _'No one is getting past me.'_ She narrowed her eyes harshly, and awaited for whomever it was...to come. Then one last shot rang out. Eliza didn't even see it coming. It lodged itself into her shoulder. It also grazed across the bone a little, leaving a small yet deep cut. She screamed in pain and clutched her shoulder. She tried to stay awake to see her attackers, but it was no use. She slowly sulked to the ground, and lost all consciousness.... 

"What the?" A dark voice asked. His figure was well shadowed in the darkness. His suit also provided nice camouflage. He had a knife fastened around one of his knees, and had a mustache swaying in the light breeze. He seemed to be wearing dark shades, and was holding a rifle in his hands. Leather gloves were also on his hands. Although it was dark, he could see very well what had happened. "That didn't sound like a cub cry...It sounded like a girl's cry!" He knew that if word got out to the officers, he wouldn't only be arrested for shooting an animal, but shooting and possibly even killing another human! He turned to his left. Another figure, a feminine one, stood next to him. 

"Way to go..." She said sarcastically. "Now what are we going to do?" She wore similar wear to the male, only instead she wear black pants and didn't have a knife with her. She had a small handheld gun, and a spear. Judging from the way she was holding it, she was an expert spear-thrower. She too wore gloves, only they were red. The dark shades over her eyes made it impossible to tell if she was glaring or not. 

The man scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Well, we could take whoever we shot with us, and tend her wounds you know? Maybe if she thinks we're good, she won't rat on us poaching out here." 

The woman looked at him, and then smiled an approval. "Okay." 

A small girl was with them. She had a single braid that rested on the back of her skull. She also wore shades. She wore a tan jacket and held a small sniper gun in her hands. A strange medallion was fastened around her neck. It was red and had a paw print mark on it. She wore pitch-black boots, and a spotted scarf was wrapped around her neck. She looked up at her parents. "Shall I check it out?" 

The woman nodded. "But be quick, okay?" 

"I will!" 

The girl ran through the bushes, and looked around. She then saw the figure. Her eyes widened in shock. The other girl was lying on her back, and her mouth was open. Her shoulder was cut and bleeding, and she seemed to be in a lot of pain, or was before she fainted. The child's face was a little pale, and she looked like she was having trouble with the bleeding. But her injury and condition was not the reason why the dark girl had become surprised. The thing was...this girl was identical to her in most ways. "Mom? Dad?" She asked out loud. She figured that the unconscious girl couldn't hear her anyway. 

The other adults rushed out, but came to a sudden halt. They too had noticed the likeness between the girl they shot, and their daughter. They may have worn different clothing, and the girl lacked the shades and medallion, but there was no mistaken that she was identical to their daughter. The dark girl knelt next to the fallen girl, and looked at her face more closely. She looked for any differences...any different markings...There was nothing different about her. The father breathed slowly, and finally got the courage to speak, "She looks like Eliza..." 

The light shown through the clouds, and revealed the people's faces. The girl looked like she could be Eliza's twin. She was also 12, but didn't have that look of sympathy in her eyes. Instead, they bore a shade of darkness, and it's not the sunglasses. Her skin was also slightly darker, as if she stayed in the sun much longer than Eliza usually did. She put her hands in her pocket, and glanced down at the girl. There was some consideration on her face, but it didn't seem as though she cared for the girl. "It's like she's my twin." Still a tad shaken by the turn of events, she stepped back a little. She was thinking of helping this person, but what would happen if she saw them. Would she recognize them? Would she run off? 

The woman looked like Marianne in all angles, but there was the clothes difference. She put the spear on the ground, and placed her gun in her leather holder. She did have blonde hair, but it was put in a ponytail, and wasn't wavy in anyway. Other than that, she looked like the Marianne that Eliza knew. She adjusted the red gloves on her hands, and looked closer at the girl. "This girl does have a likeness of our daughter, Nigel. Shouldn't we help her?" 

The other Nigel looked the same, only he had a tiny scar on his nose, possibly from an animal attack. He didn't have that same British accent all the time, and his face always looked like a scowl. He thought for a moment, then believed that it would be the best option to help the girl, but not reveal who they were. 

"Let's get her back to the comvee." He suggested, then thought again._ 'If we take her inside the comvee, she'll discover the trophies, and possibly report us! We can't take that risk!'_ "Change of plan. Just take her back to the campsite, but don't let her inside the comvee, okay?" The two females nodded, and Marianne slowly picked up the girl. The girl made a pitiful whimper, then fell silent. 

Marianne quickly looked at her with sympathy, then hurried to catch up with her daughter and husband. "Hey, wait up! I can't run that fast with a heavy load on!" 

Back at the campsite, a teenager was sitting alone in a long chair. She was wearing a two-piece bathing suit. She held, in front of her, a metallic-looking mirror, and was catching some rays. Her dark shades protected her eyes from the sun. It was Debbie, or at least another Debbie. She grimaced at the bright sun, and quickly sat up. "Well, that's enough sun for now." She straightened out her back. "Time to check the satellites." She motioned for the comvee when she heard the familiar footsteps of her family's return. Debbie turned and was slightly curious that they returned so soon, and without a prize too. "Hey, what are you guys doing back so soon? And where's that cheetah cub you were after?" 

Eliza, or Elizabeth as she preferred, looked at her sister, and responded, "Dad shot someone!" 

Debbie gasped in surprise, placed her hand over her mouth, and stared at her father. "Dad, is this true?" Nigel slowly nodded his head. 

"Yes. But she's still alive...and there's another thing..." Before he could stop, the blonde took off towards the direction of the back. She quickly assumed that Marianne was carrying the body. Elizabeth couldn't have, and Nigel didn't seem to be holding anything. So that left only Marianne. 

Debbie was about to call out when she noticed the girl, and came to a halt. "Wh-What the?" She gaped, staring at the girl intensely. 

She overheard Nigel's voice from behind, "That's what I've been wanting to tell you. The girl looks like Eliza!" 

The 12-year-old snorted in disgust. "It's Elizabeth, dad." She said coldly. 

"Oh right..." 

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, and glanced down at her medallion. _'Thanks to this thing, we've had more than enough trophies....'_ She smiled darkly, then looked back up. "So...how are we going to help her?" She looked at her double, and seemed a bit more worried this time. 

Marianne placed a cloth on the girl's shoulder, and pressed hard. It did cause the girl to shift uncomfortably, but she didn't wake up. Marianne narrowed her eyes, and shook her head slowly. "We'll need that medical kit that's in the comvee. The shot wound is lodged pretty deep. She may need surgery." 

Debbie's eyes shot open. She may be tough, but the only thing she couldn't handle was blood. This was the main reason why she never goes on the hunts. "S-S-Surgery?" She shook a bit, which caught Elizabeth's attention. 

"Are you scared?" She said, taunting hinted in her voice. 

"No!" Debbie yelled in protest. 

"Bet you are!" Debbie growled in frustration, and was about to strangle her sister when the girl stirred yet again. 

Nigel peered closely at the girl's face, and tried to see if she was awakening. The small girl did turn her head, and moved her eyes a little, but she seemed as though she was out like a rock. Marianne wiped her face. "That was close....we need to remove the bullet immediately." 

Elizabeth ran inside the comvee, and after a few minutes found the kit and handed it to her mother. The woman quickly opened it up, and set up everything for the surgery. It shouldn't take long, and didn't require major tools unless the bullet somehow magically went deeper into the shoulder. 

Debbie paled, and quickly fled the area. She wasn't about to stick around for blood, even if it was minor. Elizabeth couldn't help but laugh. "Hehehe...what a chicken." She turned back and had seen that Marianne already started the process. One look was enough for her. The exposed bone, muscle, and such surprised her so much that she screamed and backed up. 

Marianne and Nigel looked surprised, and Elizabeth could hear Debbie's voice from the comvee shouting, "NOW WHO'S THE CHICKEN?!" 

Elizabeth remarked, "SHUT UP!"   
  



	2. Welcome To My Nightmare

Eliza stirred in her sleep. It had been hours since the surgery, and she still hadn't woken up. Nigel wrapped a white cloth around her shoulder to help stop the bleeding. She moved her head to the side, and then finally her eyes slowly opened up. She turned to look in front of her, and saw some familiar faces. Well, they seemed familiar to her. Everything was a deep and mystified blur. She couldn't distinguish shapes, or one person from another. It was like the world was a painting, and someone had smeared it like it was dust. She narrowed her eyes to try and see better. 

Another figure stepped in front. The facial expression was oddly familiar to Eliza. Why did this face look so familiar to her? Her vision started to clear up. The figure in front of her also strained into focus. As the image sharpened, Eliza was more than shocked when the figure looked more and more like her. Her heart pounded harder as her vision was back to normal, and it was revealed that the figure in front of her did indeed look exactly like her. If they wore the same clothes and stood next to each other, they'd be identical! 

"Ahhhh!" Eliza yelped in surprise, and tried to sit straight up. She cried in pain and clutched her shoulder. She looked at it, and noticed the white cloth. 

The girl that she was looking at slowly shook her head. "I'm sorry, but you just had surgery. I don't think it would be wise for you to get up right now." Eliza blinked slowly. The girl not only looked like her, but sounded like her as well. She looked at her arm again, and looked at her. 

"Where am I?" 

The girl in front of her smiled, though it seemed quite dark. It made Eliza mentally shudder. "You're at my parents' campsite. Fair warning: stay out of our comvee. We're...uhh...." She tried to think of a good lie that would keep this twin of hers at bay. "....we're rather nervous about strangers coming in, okay?" 

Eliza nodded softly. "What is your name?" The dark girl asked, one of her eye brows cocked upwards. 

Eliza still hadn't noticed the other 3 on the scene. She was too focused on this double of hers. "My name?" The girl nodded. "It's Eliza." 

The girl in front of her blinked in surprise. She straightened up, and scratched her head in confusion. "Really? My name's Eliza, too...Well call me Elizabeth. I like that better." 

Eliza slowly blinked her eyes in astonishment. She then finally got a good look at the people behind her, and was surprised yet again. "Your family...they look like my family....a lot." 

The man looked a tad confused and stepped forward. He cleared this throat, and asked, "What is your family's name?" 

Eliza gave one answer that would probably explain this whole situation. "Thornberry." 

The family looked at the girl and then at each other. "Your family....is Thornberry?" Eliza nodded gently. She didn't want to put any strain on her wound. 

The woman who looked like Marianne said, "That's strange...we're the Thornberrys. How could this be?" Elizabeth nodded in agreement. She didn't know either. None of them knew right away what was going on. But then Eliza suddenly remembered what had happened hours earlier, and spoke up. 

"I might know." 

All heads turned towards her. The Debbie look alike nodded her head and told her, "Go on." 

Eliza clamped her hands together and began to tell them. "It must be an alternate dimension. I remember....the last place my family was was in Australia, shooting a wallaby." 

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes. _'Why would they waste their time on such small game?'_

Her counterpart continued. "I was going off on my own to see if I could find one, but this large portal came out of nowhere and I was sucked in. I think that's how it happened, but I'm sure I landed on my head when I arrived here." She rubbed her head a little. "I woke up to this monster headache." 

The alternate Marianne knelt down to take a closer look. "Yeah you do have a bump. Hold on, I'll go get some ice." She turned to the comvee and walked inside. Eliza turned to her counterpart. 

"This may be a stupid question, but...where are Donnie and Darwin?" 

Elizabeth blinked in surprise. "Donnie? Darwin? Who are they?" 

"Donnie is a wild child who was raised by primates when his parents were killed by poachers, and Darwin is a tame chimpanzee that likes to follow me around." She said simply. She was hoping that her counterpart would recognize these two descriptions. But the dark girl did not. She slowly shrugged her shoulders. 

"Never heard of them." She adjusted the dark shades, and lowered them a bit. Eliza could see the girl's eyes. She shuddered mentally. _'They're so....dark.'_ Elizabeth's eyes looked cold and lifeless...like a poacher's. Eliza mentally shook the thought out of her mind. Elizabeth looked at her carefully. "Just remember what we said. Do not go into the comvee. Got it?" Eliza nodded. Elizabeth smiled. "Good." 

Elizabeth turned and walked away, leaving Debbie in charge of watching the newcomer. She opened up the comvee door. On the outside it looked just like the comvee Eliza knew, but on the inside, it was totally different. The walls were decorated with animal prizes. Tusks, horns, feet, skin, all that stuff was clinging to the wall. There were stuffed figures of cheetahs, tigers, and mountain lions. There were also gator skins, wolf skins, and even stuffed birds. Elizabeth smiled darkly at each of them. Most of them had belonged to an animal she had met....An animal she had tricked....She could do so with the medallion. She found her parents sitting at the table. 

Nigel was fumbling around with an elephant tusk. Elizabeth remembered that one. It had come from one of the few elephants killed in that shooting involving thousands of elephants. She growled._ 'If it weren't for Sloan and Bree, we would've had taken the big prize!'_ Marianne sighed. "I just don't know if she can be trusted. So what if she's our daughter's alternate? She might be too different." 

"You do have a point there, but how different could she be?" 

Elizabeth shook her head. _'Arguing again as usual.' _She decided to say something. Her parents turned to her to see what she had to say about this newcomer. 

"She may be different on the outside, but what makes you say she's not like us on the inside?" 

Marianne kept a stern look on her face, but she couldn't help but feel worried. "Well, she said that a chimpanzee follows her around in the other dimension. Could this mean that....?" 

Elizabeth immediately protested, "I don't think so. I mean...why would my counterpart be such an...an animal lover?" 

Nigel nodded. "Yeah, she does have a point you know. How do you know?" 

"Well, maybe, but let's keep an eye on her, just in case. The last thing we need around here is a child to get us arrested." Nigel got up from the table, and peered out of one of the windows. She could see Debbie and Eliza chatting about something. "Well, doesn't look like she'll go anywhere soon." 

Marianne narrowed her eyes. "Let's just be sure she doesn't leave the premises, okay?" 

"Okay." Nigel replied, and then picked up the tusk again. He still treasured this piece of ivory. _'I still remember those days...heheheh.'_

Elizabeth ignored her father and pulled out a small rifle. She aimed it towards the window....towards her counterpart. "If that child really is against poachers....if she really is an animal lover, then I will be forced to..." She pretended to pull the trigger, and made a fake gun explosion. 

Marianne nodded gently. "You can do that, but only if you're certain that....." 

The dark girl smiled. "Yes, I know. I know." 

Eliza sat at one of the tables that the family had placed outside. Debbie sat down in another one. She was asking a few questions to the girl. "So, what's your family like?" Eliza didn't think that she should give away too much information. This was an alternate world, anyway. Even if these people are her alternate family, that's what they were. Alternate. They could very well be her enemy. She did have doubts against that, but she decided that it wasn't worth the risk. 

"I'm only allowed to say that we travel the world in our comvee. Is that what your family does, Debbie?" 

The teenager widened her eyes just a tad bit. "Yes. We go to wherever we are called to." 

Eliza cocked her head to the left. "Called to? Oh nevermind...I forgot...my family's called to places sometimes too." 

"Looks like your family and my family are quite alike in many aspects. But I know there has got to be some differences." Debbie assured. The red-haired girl nodded once. 

"Yeah, there is at least one. In my dimension, included in our family are Donnie and Darwin. I believe I mentioned them earlier, didn't I?" 

Nodding, the blonde girl smiled slightly, although also slightly darkly. "Yes you did mention then. Wild child and chimpanzee, right?" 

"Yeah, my sister, whose name is Debbie as well, doesn't get along well with the chimp around." 

"No surprise," Debbie commented, "Not everyone would appreciate having a primate as a friend." 

Eliza knew that Debbie was right about that. She looked towards the comvee, and could almost see inside, but the windows seemed too dark. _'That doesn't feel right.'_ If this was the same comvee....wait it wasn't. So it shouldn't be any surprise if there's anything different. She just hoped that there wasn't anything majorly different. 

Meanwhile, in another part of Africa, someone was tapping their finger impatiently. "Come on, where is that report? We don't have time for games!" The man shouted. He was tall, and did have a deep voice. He was in the shadow. More than half his office area was covered in darkness. He had papers almost neatly stacked in two piles, but there was a paper here or there that was out of place. There was two windows behind him, and both had their shades closed. Two gray filing cabinets were placed next to his light gray desk. He held a pen in his finger, and then slammed it down. 

"Where is the report?!" He shouted again, and bolted straight up. His face came into the light, and it was clear that this man was Sloan Blackburn. He wore the exact some outfit that the other Sloan had, only this time he wore an orange scarf around his neck. The reason was uncertain. 

A woman walked in. She was more then likely to be Bree Blackburn's alternate. She didn't wear the same thing as her alternate, though. This Bree wore a short-sleeved shirt, colored dark blue. She had a jewel necklace around her neck, and her hair was down. She had sweatpants on, even though they were in Africa, that was colored light red. "Sorry, Sloan, but we've lost contact." She said solemnly. 

Sloan's eyes widened in shock. "Lost contact? That can't be!" He slammed his fist into the table, nearly breaking it, and growled in frustration. "It can't be...we've been tracking those people for months, and all you can say is that we've lost contact with our crew?" 

Bree stepped back in surprise. She had seen Sloan like this before, but never this long. _'He does seem upset...'_ Bree said to herself. _'I shouldn't be surprised....the last time we faced them, we almost lost a thousand elephants.'_ Sadness started to enter her mind. _'Alas, we couldn't save them all.'_ She turned her attention back to the angry Sloan, who was settling back down in his chair. 

"Did Biederman and Kip say anything before we lost contact?" He asked quietly as to not scare his wife again. 

"All I know that they've said was that they spotted the Thornberry family somewhere in an African jungle." 

This got Sloan's attention all right. He coughed in disbelief. "Africa jungle? That's close to here!" 

Bree slowly shook her head. "Not necessarily. You see, Africa's a large continent...They could be anywhere. How will we find them?" 

The man got up from his chair and pushed in his chair. "You're forgetting what happened before. When that family went after those innocent elephants, we thought we wouldn't be able to track them in time, but we did." Bree looked at her husband with a look of understanding. 

She nodded. "Yes we did get there on time, but not on time enough to save all the elephants." 

Sloan Blackburn sighed. He knew she was right. They may have saved the elephants, but some had already been killed by Eliza Thornberry in a desperate attempt to kill Sloan himself off. About five were shot and killed. The other elephants managed to escape. When Kip and Biederman were sent to arrest the family, the Thornberrys had escaped! _'We have to find some way to get them.'_ He scratched his chin thoughtfully. _'Kip and Biederman may still be alive. I'll have to try and contact them.'_

He turned to the woman. "I'll try and contact Kip and Biederman myself. If I am able to get through, I'll inform them of where the family of poachers was last seen." 

Bree nodded, but a look of concern etched on her face. It wasn't the entire family she was worried about. She had heard that Elizabeth was a great sharpshooter. A spear is intimidating enough, but a gun can kill instantly. "But what if they run into Eliza?" 

"That is a risk we have to take....for the animals' sake." Sloan picked up his cell phone, and quickly dialed Kip's number. Biederman was too much of an idiot to know what to do in the situation that they were in. Sloan groaned when the operator came on that said that the area code could not be reached. "This piece of junk." He muttered, and then tried to dial again. The silence that gone on just after he dialed the last number seem to last an eternity. Sloan stared at the phone with anticipation, then sighed in relief when he could hear ringing noises being produced by the cell phone. "It's ringing." He said happily. 

Bree Blackburn also sighed with relief. Sloan couldn't help but smile, then heard the click of a pick-up. He placed his ear next to the phone, and spoke into it. "Hello?" He asked, and waited for an answer. After a few moments went by, a hoarse voice finally answered. 

"Hello? Sloan?" It was Kip, and he sounded hurt. 

"Kip? What's wrong?" 

The strained voice talking through the phone seemed to be weak, but not that weak. "We had a little run-in with that Thornberry family. A rock slide stopped Biederman and I from nabbing one of them." 

The man growled mentally, and gritted his teeth. _'Man, that family is good.'_ "I've received word that the Thornberry family was last spotted in an African jungle. That may be close to where you are. Please investigate." 

Sloan raised up the cell phone to click the OFF button, but not before he heard, "You can count on us, Sloan!" 

He pressed the OFF button, folded up the cell phone, and placed it in his pant pocket. "Kip and Biederman will take things from here, I hope." He looked towards the sky with a worried look on his face. He hoped that Kip and Biederman will at least capture one of them. _'That way, we can force the others out of hiding.'_ Bree seemed to read his mind, and slowly nodded. They then both left the room and towards another, probably to get more information on the whereabouts of the Thornberry family, the most wanted poachers in the world. 

Debbie had gotten bored fast, and went inside the comvee. Eliza had asked where she was going to sleep, and her counterpart eagerly brought out a sleeping bag. 

"Here. It's not much, but it should keep you warm during the night." Elizabeth set the bag down on the floor next to Eliza. Smiling, she said goodnight, and went inside the comvee, and shut the door tight. Eliza looked at the bag, and then at the camp area around her. _'Guess this will have to do.'_ She laid herself on the floor, got into the sleeping back, curled up, and closed her eyes. _'Maybe they can help me get back home.'_ She smiled in her sleep. She believed that she was right, but there was this feeling that wouldn't go away. It was the same feeling she got when she spent the night at Sloan and Bree's campsite. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong with them, and she was right. "I hope I'm not right about this one." She told herself quietly, and found herself dozing off. 

Eliza felt her mind fade into a dream. Night had fallen rather quickly. Faster than expected by Eliza. She took a glance at the sleeping bag given to her by Elizabeth._ 'She seems so much like me.'_ The young girl thought as she pulled the bag closer and unzipped it. The night air seemed chilly, and she needed some sort of method of keeping warm. She got into the sleeping bag, but found it hard to get to sleep. _'Why can't I sleep?'_ She looked up at the stars, and felt a sense of fear. She blinked in confusion. _'Why am I afraid?'_ Eliza looked at the Commvee. In her mind, she knew the vehicle looked darker than normal, almost sinister. She shook the thought out of her mind. 'It must be just because it's night.' Eliza did need some sleep. She slowly closed her eyes. 

But then, suddenly, the Commvee's engine roared to life, and the lights flashed bright white. She bolted straight up. Her eyes flashed with intense fear. The Commvee's lights faded to a darker, blood red. It suddenly looked more sinister than it had before. Eliza shivered and backed away. "W-What's going on?" She asked as the vehicle's wheels turned in her direction. Her heart pounded quickly and the Commvee's engine became louder, almost shaking the ground. The front of it moved, or felt as though it moved. Eliza watched as a tear along just under its headlights stretched out. With a sickening crack, the tear ripped open into a mouth-like structure. Eliza could see metallic teeth flashing in the moonlight. 

Inside, wire hooked together and bundled so tightly wiggled and lifted itself up. _'A tongue.'_ The girl thought. The vehicle edged closer to the terrified girl. The gap curved upward in an ominous grin. A lighter shade of red, in the shape of slits, appeared in the red lights. It made the appearance that the van had pupils. They focused on the redhead. 

Then the engine growled, but it sounded like words. "Go back. Go back to where you came. Do it, before it's too late." 

Eliza fell to her knees, trembling. "You can talk?" The engine produced several loud yet short booming sounds. It was laughing at her. 

"You foolish girl! Did you think that because Elizabeth acted nice towards you means that she's like you?" Eliza blinked with confusion. "Think again! This is a parallel dimension that you're in. Not all is what it seems. Remember, in your dimension, I hope you learned to keep your friends close, but your enemies closer. It will help you here, now go! Get out, while you still can!" The Commvee's engine roared loudly. The girl backed away again. The machine's eyes glowed an even more bright red. 

"I-I don't u-u-understand what y-you're trying to tell me!" Her voice trembled with terror. 

The Commvee, at first, didn't respond, only came closer, teeth bared. Then, it opened up to speak again, and Eliza felt her heart sink at the words the machine said next as she fell to her knees again. "The Thornberrys here are poachers! Elizabeth is the worst, her heart like ice. I am giving you a chance to save yourself. Normally I would kill you, but I've made an exception. Leave! Leave now before they find out you're against poachers! If you don't leave, they might realize the truth about you. And if they do, they will surely kill you! Go!" 

The young girl slowly climbed to her feet. Her knees shook and her hands trembled. She refused to take her eyes off the Commvee. _'What if it's telling the truth? Then again, what if it's not?'_ She swallowed and took a step forward and asked the Commvee, "What makes you so sure?" The red lights seemed to narrow with curiosity. "I mean, how would I know for sure that they are…poachers?" The Commvee's lights glowed bright red again, and the pupils never left her eyes. It backed away a bit, and flashed it's teeth. 

Something red poured out, and dripped to the ground. _'Blood.'_ Eliza's mind shuddered. The engine voice said, "Look inside me tomorrow. The poacher family won't be here on these grounds for a while. They'll be gone. But be careful, child…I can only let you go once." Before Eliza could ask anymore, the Commvee's lights flashed black, and she felt herself engulfed in the light. Intense pain flowed through her body, and she let out a scream. Then everything went dark, and her mind faded. 

Eliza screamed and bolted straight up. She panted frantically and her heart swiftly pounded. She turned her head from left to right, observing her surroundings. The sky was still dark, and the Commvee was normal. "A dream," she breathed, "All a dream." She smiled with relief, and closed her eyes, and slept again. 

Then, about an hour later, the door of the Commvee flew open. Nigel stepped out, and eyed Eliza eerily. "Looks like she slept well." He said sarcastically. He could see very well that, although the nightmare had passed, the girl still gave a couple of silent whimpers. Elizabeth walked out of the vehicle, a rifle in hand. 

She walked over to her father, and asked, "Are we ready to go leopard hunting yet?" She asked eagerly. 

Nigel closed his eyes, and sighed. "Almost. Your mom and sister still need to get ready." 

The girl scoffed. "Why is Debbie coming? She hates the sight of bloodshed! She's no poacher!" 

The man glared at his daughter, then glanced at the hatchet holding the Mini-Comm in place. "She just wants to see how it's done." He walked over to the hatchet, and pulled it swiftly. The Mini-Comm slowly rolled out, and stopped an inch in front of Elizabeth. "Get in," Nigel ordered, pointed at the small car. "I'll get your mom and Deborah." The man poacher then walked inside the Commvee and shut the door. 

Elizabeth grumbled quietly and turned to walk towards the vehicle. She glanced at her counterpart, rolled up in a sleeping bag. "Such incredible likeness! It would be a shame if you were on…their side." She pointed the rifle at Eliza's forehead and reached for the trigger, but never pulled it. A dark smile made its way up Elizabeth's mouth. "A dear shame…" She chuckled darkly. 

Just then, the door flung open again. The poacher girl swiftly pulled the gun away, stood up, and ran towards the Mini-Comm. Just as her family had gotten out, she had hopped in the back seat of the Mini-Comm. Marianne had her pistol out, ready to kill. "Let's go." She said with an evil smile. Debbie groaned, and rolled her eyes. 

"I still can't believe I actually agreed to go. I don't know how you convinced me, mom. I just don't know." 

The woman looked at her oldest daughter, and smiled. "You'll love it, Deborah." She placed a hand on the teen's shoulder. "Trust me." Debbie still looked reluctant, but if she didn't go, Elizabeth would be teasing her for a long time. 

She growled mentally, and nodded, "Okay, I'll go." She got into the Mini-Comm next to her sister. 

The redhead glanced over and sneered, "So you have finally got a backbone." 

"Oh shut up!" Debbie noticed that her sister was still wearing the red medallion. Elizabeth refused to tell why she never took it off, and Debbie didn't really care anymore. She just brushed it aside as her sister's way of behind weird. 

Marianne got into the driver's seat, and Nigel got into the passenger's seat. "Let's roll." Marianne said as she turned the keys in the ignition, and drove off, kicking dust up in the air. Eliza turned slightly in her sleep, but didn't wake up. The poachers had forgotten one thing before they left: They forgot to lock the Commvee door. 


	3. What You See Isn't Always The Truth

"For the last time, mister. What did you do to my sister?!" The voice of Debbie screeched out, and caused the blonde-haired man to cover his ears. It was the other Sloan, the poacher. He winced in pain, but stood his ground. He had two policemen beside him so he wouldn't do anything offensive. 

"I'm telling you." He said darkly. "I didn't do anything to Eliza, and neither did Bree. How could we have? We were in jail!" 

Marianne grabbed Debbie and desperately pulled her back. "Debbie, settle down." 

Nigel, although never taking his eyes off of Sloan, had no choice but to agree. "I have to agree with this, Deborah. Sloan and Bree were still in jail when Eliza disappeared. They couldn't possibly be responsible." 

Sloan smiled wickedly at Debbie, and said, "I told you so!" 

"Oh, shut up." She muttered, then turned to Marianne and Nigel. "Do you think we'll find her soon?" 

"Oh, I hope so. Eliza's never been gone this long." A thought came to her mind. "Never mind, she HAD been gone this long before. But I am getting worried." 

**_In the sea_**   
**_The fish have learned to fly_**   
**_On a moonlight night_**   
**_On wings of silver as the enchanted stars_**   
**_Sail serenely by_****__**

**_Do they know_**   
**_Where did unicorns go?_**   
**_Where winged horses fly?_**   
**_Narwhals lost at sea_**   
**_And never seen again_**

"I don't blame you, Marianne." Nigel said. He placed an arm on her shoulder, a weak attempt to comfort her. "We'll find her, don't you worry." 

The blonde woman looked up at Nigel, tears threatening to come out of her eyes. "Yes, but when?" 

"I'm not sure...not sure..." Nigel sadly looked to the ground. 

Debbie couldn't help but feel bad, too. _'Oh, this is all my fault. Why didn't I follow her? I could've been able to stop her from whatever happened to her. Oh, Eliza, where are you?!'_ She felt a nudge from behind her. She turned around, and could see Darwin looked at her through worry-filled eyes. "Darwin....we still hadn't found Eliza." She knelt down and gently patted him on the head. "But we'll keep trying." She straightened up again, and Darwin chittered something. _'I wish I knew what he said.' _She looked up at the sky, and a determined look registered on her teenaged face. _'Eliza, whatever you do, don't give up. We'll find you...even if it takes an eternity.'_ She noticed that her parents were started to leave. She grabbed Darwin by the hand and ran after them. She didn't want to be left behind accidentally. The search for Eliza resumed moments later. 

**_"Gone? Gone?"_**   
**_Asked the Magpie_**   
**_Where did unicorns go?_****__**

**__**

Grogginess over came Eliza's mind. In the crack of dawn, the light started to rise over the forest. It bathed everything in its bright light, and the small girl tried her best to shield her eyes from it. _'Man is it morning already?' _She asked herself grumpily. She outstretched her arms and flexed out their muscles. She yawned and crawled out of bed. She straightened her back, and then her legs. She yawned again, and looked towards the comvee. She narrowed her eyes a bit, then relaxed them. The lights in the comvee were off. She assumed that they were still sleeping. She walked a bit closer, and though she couldn't tell from a further distance, the door was open, but only slightly. _'Hmm...maybe they're awake.'_ Eliza walked right beside the door, careful not to look in, and knocked on the door softly. She stood there a couple of seconds, and realized no one was coming to the door. _'That's strange...'_ She knocked again, this time louder. "Hey! Anyone there?" She called out. Still nothing happened. 

**_In the trees_**   
**_The birds have learned to speak_**   
**_Gaily colored_**   
**_They keep their secrets_**   
**_In a parade of clouds_**   
**_Playing hide-and-seek_****__**

**_Do they know_**   
**_Where did unicorns go?_**   
**_Where winged horses fly?_**   
**_Narwhals lost at sea_**   
**_And never seen again_**

She seemed more and more confused. Where would they have gone this early in the morning? Or maybe they had gone somewhere at night and still hadn't returned. If they did, why didn't they tell her? Eliza looked at one part of the comvee, and saw that one hatchet was open. She recognized that hatchet. _'They must have gone somewhere in the Mini-Com.'_ She told herself, and then looked towards the comvee itself. Temptation was started to overwhelm her mind, but she shook the thought out. _'No. I was told not to go in there!'_ She growled to herself and started to move away. She glanced back at the slightly open door, walked back a little, and her eyes still locked on that open door. She whined a little, as though confused on what to do. She turned to look around the campsite area. She didn't see anyone coming back, nor did she hear anyone coming back. The only thing she could hear was the gentle breeze in the wind, and some twigs snapping. There was probably some small animals nearby. 

**_Does myth and mystery lie_**   
**_Where the unicorns go?_**

Eliza closed her eyes tightly and thought for a moment. Should she go in..or should she stay out and wait? She looked at the comvee again. She wanted to know what was so secretive in there. She also wanted to know what was different about her family and this one. There had to be another difference. But what Eliza Thornberry was most worried about was what that difference was. _'It can't be that bad.'_ She sighed, and walked closer to the door. _'I'll only be in a minute.'_ The others may be gone for quite sometime, so this gave her the chance to explore before they get back. She could just say she was waiting for them outside, and didn't notice the door was open. She smiled, and grabbed the door handle. She breathed in deeply. _'This is it.' _She let out that breath, and tugged on the door. It opened up automatically, and it was very very dark inside. She couldn't see anything, but could faintly make out the stairs. She slowly but surely walked inside the comvee, and gently closed the door behind her. 

_'Everything is so dark in here.'_ Eliza stepped a little forward, and tried to make out something that she saw on the wall. She felt around for something like a switch. Her hand touched something soft, cold, and hard all at once. Her eyes widened a little. _'What is this thing?'_ She felt around more on the object, and felt something sharp as well. Strangely enough, all the sharp things were located in the same spot. Eliza thought that that was unusual. This was no ordinary decoration or whatever it was hanging on the wall. She ignored the item, and continued to search for a light to turn on. She finally felt something that felt like a switch. 

"Found it." She whispered, and then flicked the light up. The lights above her flickered a little, and then flashed. Light illuminated the area. Eliza quickly turned to see what it was she had felt, but terror struck her heart when she saw what it was. It was an animal's head. 

"Ahhh!" She yelped in surprise. She fell back towards the steps, her fear-filled eyes locked on the animal head.__

_'It's not real...It's not real...' _She kept telling herself, and picked herself off the ground. She moved closer. The animal that was there looked to be a Snow Leopard. She could tell because it was whitish blue. It looked to be an adolescent. It wasn't large enough to be an adult. But if this was supposed to be her alternate family, why would a stuffed animal's head be located in the comvee. _'And right over the dinner table, too.' _She commented sarcastically. But she didn't find it very amusing. She raised her head to take a good look around. If they had anymore heads like that, they probably hid it someplace. Eliza failed to notice some animal skin poking out of a door at the floor. 

Eliza started to feel uneasy. She noticed a lot of weapons inside the comvee. A lot of them were rifles, and still others included knives, swords, and spears. _'Why would they need all this stuff?'_ She then noticed a room. It appeared to be her alternate's room. She could tell because the clothes she wore yesterday were lying on the bed, folded up. Eliza Thornberry sighed, and walked towards the room. The light was off, so she didn't notice anything strange about the room. Narrowing her eyes, she felt for a light switch, and turned on the light so she could see. When she did, though, she wished that she hadn't. If seeing that animal head was bad enough, this was worse! The girl felt her breath quicken, and a horrified look plastered on her face and wouldn't go away no matter how hard she tried. All around, she saw the outstretched skins of all sorts of animals, most of them endangered or nearly extinct. She panted quickly as she looked left to right, and saw tiger skin, cheetah skin, leopard skin, crocodile skin, just about any endangered animal's skin was in this room. _'This...this can't be...'_ She felt tears come to her eyes, but she held them back. 

But it was true. She knew it in her heart. Her heart knew all too well. Those skins on the walls..the rifles...they were...She couldn't finish. Her mind reeled to the time that she was attacked the other day. She remembered the shots that were fired. She remembered that the alternate family was the only people nearby. She suddenly knew the truth. _'They were the ones who shot me.' _Her face went pale as she realized the truth of what had happened. She looked back up at the room she was standing in. It was sickening her to see all these stuffed animals and skins. She even noticed a couple of gorilla paws placed beside Elizabeth's bed like ornaments. 

"This is terrible.." She murmured. She looked around over and over again. She noticed a spare rifle lying next to Elizabeth's bed, and some bullets were lying on the floor. She looked around on the roof, and was horrified to see posters up there, promoting poaching. Eliza wanted this to be a nightmare...She wanted to wake up...But she knew, deep inside, it was no dream. It was real. It was happening... 

She ran outside of the comvee, no longer able to control herself or hold back her tears. When she was out of the comvee, she ran towards one of the trees, and leaned against it. "Why? Why?" She kept asking herself. She started to cry, and doubt was filling her heart rapidly. She pounded against the tree with her fist. She didn't want this to be happening! She turned back and looked at the comvee. It was then that she noticed that there was another difference. Faintly, she could see folds hanging from beneath it. _'Camouflage.'_ She thought. That was also proof that this alternate family...was poachers. It was a terrible thought. Eliza could feel the horrible truth sink into her heart. It was an overwhelming feeling. She started to shake visibly. The ground below her seemed to shake, too. _'I-I got to get out of here..but how?'_

She looked up, and suddenly heard some footsteps. She tensed. It could be one of the alternate Thornberrys! She crawled to her feet. They didn't know that she had gone inside. She turned to the door, and noticed it was wide open. She gasped, and ran to it, and slowly closed it. She heard the bushes part, and she jumped back from the comvee, and back to the ground. She waited, and saw that it was indeed her counterpart, Elizabeth that was coming through. She had a bag with her, but it appeared to be empty. Elizabeth herself didn't seem too happy. 

"Man....what a day." She said, but noticed Eliza sitting there. A scared look was on her face. Elizabeth raised an eyebrow in slight concern. "Eliza? What's wrong?" She put the bag down, and stepped a few inches forward. The counterpart moved back in fear. The dark girl seemed confused right away. "What's wrong with you?" 

Eliza's eyes were wide at first, and then they narrowed. Anger was filling her mind. No, not anger. Wild rage. She shot straight up, and pointed an accusing finger at her darker counterpart. "HOW COULD YOU?!" She screamed. The other girl's eyes went wide open, and she stepped back. 

She raised her hands up and motioned them into a shrug. "What are you talking about?" She asked, her eyes still wide from shock. Eliza narrowed her eyes dangerously. 

"Don't play dumb with me. I saw what you had in your room!" Elizabeth blinked a little, and then narrowed her eyes as well. She got into a slightly defensive pose, believing that Eliza might try and attack. 

"So what?" 

Eliza growled, and formed fists with both her hands. "How could you do that to the animals? They never did anything to you!" She closed her eyes tightly, and fought back tears that were forming. She was still hoping this was all just a dream. 

Her counterpart sneered, "What is it with you, anyway? They're just animals. Nothing more." 

That hit Eliza like a Mac Truck. Her eyes snapped open instantly, and she gaped at her counterpart. How could she say such a thing? "Just animals?" She questioned. 

Elizabeth smiled darkly, and nodded her head two times. She placed her hands on her hips, and answered Eliza back. "Just." 

That one word was enough. Eliza felt wild rage fill her mind up. It blinded her judgment. She gritted her teeth. She growled dangerously. "Why you..." 

That was all she could manage to say. Her body shook as more rage filled her mind. She glared at her counterpart. Then, suddenly, without warning, she dashed towards her. Elizabeth was too shocked to move, and Eliza suddenly slammed her into the ground. Elizabeth tried to get up, but Eliza kept pushing her down. Then the two were suddenly wrestling with each other, and rolled across the campsite. Elizabeth was trying to get away, but Eliza kept trying to pin her counterpart down. She couldn't let her counterpart get away with what she's done! 

"I can't believe you would do such a thing!" Eliza shouted, and delivered a punch to her counterpart. Elizabeth screamed in pain, and then kicked the other girl in the stomach. The other girl grunted in pain, and fell backwards. Elizabeth took this opportunity, and lunged at Eliza. Eliza opened her eyes, and saw her counterpart jumping towards her. Her eyes snapped open in shock, and she attempted to move backwards. She got far enough so that the dark poacher slammed into the ground instead. She coughed a little in the little dust that had flown upwards into the air, and glared at her light self. 

"I can't believe you care about these animals. Why should anyone?" 

"Because animals are people, too!" Was Eliza's only reply as she tackled Elizabeth from behind. _'Animals are people? What planet is this girl from?' _Elizabeth wondered. The sudden attack, though, surprised her so much that she felt her medallion start to glow. Eliza was thrown back by a sudden force, and looked up in horror. 

Her counterpart started to glow deep red. Her face seemed twisted in pain and shock. _'What's happening to her?'_ The light girl stepped back as the glowing intensed. She couldn't tell exactly, but it seemed like Elizabeth's body was started to mutate rapidly. She was. Her mouth got longer, fangs started to grow. Her legs got longer, and her arms morphed into legs. A tail sprouted out. She slightly grew in size, but not so much. The light and wind died down, and Eliza could finally see what had happened. In front of her was a medium sized fox with red hair. It was her counterpart! _'So, this is her power...'_ She stepped back in surprise. The fox in front of her, a swift fox, smiled darkly. She arched her back, and leapt forward, her claws outstretched. Eliza was too scared to move... 

In an instant, the swift fox pinned Eliza to the ground. She snarled in her face, and she growled. She was talking to her in fox language. Elizabeth thought that Eliza could also transform, but left her medallion behind. She thought that gave her the advantage. Eliza, however, understood just what she said when she growled. Her eyes snapped open and narrowed in anger. Elizabeth had said, "Are you ready to die, little one?" 

Eliza struggled to push the fox off of her, and shouted in fox language, "No I am not ready to die!" Elizabeth's eyes widened in shock, and she temporary released the other girl from her grasp. 

"What? You can understand me?" 

Eliza slowly nodded her head. Since she was in another dimension, it wouldn't hurt to tell of her powers, even to her counterpart. "Yes, I can talk to animals." 

_'This is quite interesting...'_ The dark fox believed. She looked at Eliza more carefully, and then attacked again. This time Eliza was prepared and quickly grabbed a stick. She swung hard, and hit Elizabeth on the head. Yelping, the swift fox jumped back, and rubbed her head with one of her front paws. She snarled at Eliza. 

She stepped forward. "Very impressive child, but can you dodge this?" Instead of pouncing, Elizabeth started to run towards the smaller girl. Eliza looked surprised, and once again attempted to strike her counterpart. But her counterpart learned too fast. With a swipe of the paw, Elizabeth Thornberry knocked the stick away from Eliza Thornberry's hand, and then struck her. Eliza screamed as she slid backwards and hit her back against a tree. She slipped down, and winced and shook in pain. Her eyes closed tightly, and one of them slowly opened. A glare was still on her face, and she glanced at the swift fox, which was advancing on her, a hideous and evil smile stretching across her face. 

"Looks like this is the end of the line." She spoke in a darkened voice. She stalked closer and closer to the girl, and her teeth seemed to grow more and more menacing in Eliza's eyes. _'I've got to do something!'_ She was now starting to panic. Her evil counterpart was getting closer and closer. Each step produced more and more pressure. She looked to her side, and saw the sleeping bag that Elizabeth had lent her. _'I hope this works...'_ Suddenly Elizabeth launched an assault. 

Thinking fast, Eliza quickly grabbed the bag, and flipped it towards the attacking swift fox. Elizabeth was so surprised that she didn't even defend herself. The bag collided with her, and she screamed. Eliza watched as the swift fox flew backwards and hit the ground hard. She skidded across the camp area, and finally stopped near the comvee. Eliza slowly picked herself up, and anticipated Elizabeth to try and attack her. Elizabeth slowly crawled to her feet. She folded her ears back against her skull, and gave a warning growl. Her body tensed up, and she prepared to attack again. She took one step forward. She realized too late the mistake she just made. Faster than the speed of sound, something that looked like a bear trap snapped shut. Elizabeth howled in agony as the device clamped into her leg, drawing out blood. She whimpered and jumped backward, and tried her best to escape. 

Eliza walked a few feet forward. "See what it feels like to be trapped in traps like that?" She asked the fox. The fox only snarled, but was too worried about getting herself loose. She ignored Eliza as she walked even closer. The light girl didn't know what to do. Part of her wanted to leave Elizabeth like that. But if she did, she would only be as bad as she is. _'It is tempting to leave her like that...But if I do, what kind of person would I be?'_ She slowly shook her head. She stopped walking by the time she was right next to Elizabeth. Elizabeth's eyes were closed tightly in pain, so she didn't notice when Eliza slowly put her hands on the trap, and tugged hard. 

The trap finally released it grip, and Elizabeth fell down as her leg swung up free. She quickly overlooked her leg to see if it was all right. She then remembered something, and looked towards Eliza. Shock registered in her mind. _'She saved me. But why?'_ She started to shake visibly, just like Eliza had earlier. She moved back, and lowered her head towards the ground. This didn't make any sense. If Eliza hated her, then why did she save her? Eliza raised her hand and said something, but the dark alternate never heard it. She had dashed off into the jungle alone, too confused to even talk. 

"WAIT! COME BACK!" Eliza shouted towards the fox, but she disappeared into the brush before she could finish her sentence. "Aww...man...." She mentally slapped herself. But what did she do? Sure they fought for a while, but all Eliza had done was free Elizabeth. So why did that alternate version just take off like that? Why was she so surprised? _'It must be because she's not so used to kindness from other people. That might be it.' _She nodded to herself, and then picked up the bloody trap. _'Wonder what I'm going to do with this...'_ She stared at the trap intently, studying it, and wondered where she should put it. She continued to look at it, and didn't even know that someone else was coming towards the camp area. The two figures, one tall and one short, quickly hid behind some foliage, and kept an uneasy eye on the girl. 

"There's that Eliza child." The short one pointed towards the girl holding the trap. "But where's her family?" 

"They must be out." The tall one answered back. The light revealed that these people were none other than Kip and Biederman! They looked at Eliza Thornberry with a look of slight hatred. They knew what they had to do. "Come on, we have to capture her while her family's still away." 

Kip looked slightly different from the other Kip. He lacked the scar on his eyes, and didn't have the dark shades. He still had glasses, though. He wore a white uniform consisting of a white shirt and dark blue pants. The new Biederman had the same dressings as Kip had. However, Biederman did have dark shades, but also had a scar in the same place as the evil Kip did. Biederman nodded at his partner. 

"Okay. Let's do it." With that, the two crept up behind Eliza, careful not to make a noise. 

"Huh?" Eliza perked her head up. She sensed that someone was watching her. "Who's there?" She asked quietly, and timidly looked at her surroundings. She never looked behind herself, though. She started to back up. "Whoever you are, show yourself!" She shouted bravely. Kip narrowed his eyes in anger. Faster than he could count, he wrapped his arms around the small girl and held her tightly. Eliza let out a loud scream of distress, but Kip's hand clamped on her mouth. 

"Listen Thornberry. We're going to be taking you someplace. Don't try anything funny, or we'll be forced to take...extreme measures." He started to drag Eliza backward. She widened her eyes in terrible fear, and started to struggle against Kip's grasp. 

"Oh, she's a feisty one." Biederman noted. 

"Get out the knock-out gas, Biederman." The tall man commanded. 

"Yes, sir." He pulled out a can of something from his pocket, and then pulled out a cloth. He sprayed on the cloth so that it had a nice fine coat of scent, and pressed it against Eliza's nose and mouth. Her eyes widened in fear, then slowly she felt dizzy, and passed out.... 

Back in Eliza's own dimension, tension and worry started to increase as search parties were starting to give up. Eliza Thornberry was just no where to be found. Marianne tried to hold back a sob, and Nigel kept insisting that they keep trying. "Hey, we can't give up." He was talking with an Australian officer. The officer, dark-skinned and having a tattoo on his arm, shrugged. 

"I'm sorry, sir, but she's just no where on this continent. If she were, one of our officers would have found her by now. We searched the whole island." 

Nigel's face displayed a look of emotional pain. _'Oh, Eliza...where are you?'_ He couldn't help but feel a bit angry with the man. But he did try. 

Debbie walked up to her parents, and was expecting the worse. "Well? Any luck?" She asked hopefully and yet at the same time doubtfully. Marianne shed a couple of tears, and wiped her face. _'Uh oh.'_ Debbie told herself. _'That's not good.'_

She looked at her father, who gave her a similar look. "I'm sorry, Deborah, but they still haven't found Eliza." The teenager's eyes registered in strong shock. Her dad continued, "They're even planning on calling off the search. She's just not on this island." 

Debbie backed up a little. "No...that can't be. She has to be on this island!" She raised her arms up in the air. "Where else could she be?" 

Marianne answered, "I'm not sure. But it appears that the officers can't find her anywhere in Australia." 

A thought crossed Debbie's mind. "Maybe Sloan lied to us!" She accused. 

Marianne slowly shook her head. "No, dear, remember? He was in jail, and had guards with him. There's no way he could be responsible." 

Debbie crossed her arms. She glared at her mom, and asked, "Are you sure?" She cocked an eyebrow upwards. Marianne was a little taken aback by this. She placed a hand on her other arm, and motioned for Debbie to continue. "I mean," Debbie added in, "How do we know he's not lying? How do we know he was guarded that whole time?" 

Nigel shook his head in disbelief. "Deborah, you know very well that the guards had told us they were with him." His eyes then widened. _'Maybe Debbie is right.' _He looked at his wife, who also seemed to understand what Debbie was trying to say. Nigel pointed towards the comvee. "Maybe we should have a talk with those officers." 

Sloan, the good one, was pacing back and forth in his office. Bree seemed to be a little worried herself. It had been several hours when they sent Kip and Biederman on their little errand. "Where are they?" He asked dangerously. He looked at Bree, and expected an answer. She didn't reply. Instead she moved back a little to keep out of his way. He shifted his gaze towards the door. He heard footsteps coming their way. 

"Oh? Maybe that's them." Bree said calmly, and opened up the door. 

Sure enough it was Biederman and Kip. They seemed to be carrying something. It was a small girl. "Sloan, Bree," Kip spoke with respect, "Here's one of the Thornberrys. Eliza Thornberry." He placed the small child on the floor. She was still out cold, and seemed a bit frightened. 

Sloan raised an eyebrow. "Good work, gentlemen." He walked towards the girl, and looked at her face closely. "When she wakes up, she'll have a lot of explaining to do." He straightened up. 

Bree walked towards him. "Sloan, what should we do with her?" She looked at the child. _'What are we going to do? How are we going to use this child as bait?' _She got a concerned look on her face. 

Sloan turned to Bree. "Lock her up in the room. You know where it is." He tossed her the keys, and she caught them. 

"Yes, sir." She called back, and walked towards Eliza. _'She won't be of any harm to us in this condition.'_ The woman noted to herself, and she slowly lifted the child up. She carried the small girl towards the room in front of her, and put her down in the chair provided. She walked out of the darkened room, and locked the door. 

Biederman walked up to her as she put the keys in her pocket for safekeeping. "Hey, you sure that Thornberry child can't get out of there?" 

The woman rubbed her head. "Listen, Biederman, how can a mere child get herself out of that room?" 

"Well," He scratched his head, "You do have a point there." Bree grumbled in frustration._ 'He's hopeless.'_ She walked out of the hallway. 


	4. Truth, Reveal Thyself

In the campsite area where the poacher Thornberrys were, Nigel, Debbie, and Marianne were returning from the hunt. They seemed to have caught one lion. A male cub it was, and Marianne was holding it. Nigel looked at his oldest daughter and said, "I can't believe you actually wanted to go with us." 

The dark teenager shrugged her shoulders. "Hey, I just wanted to see what it was like." 

"Right..." Marianne rolled her eyes doubtfully. They advanced towards the comvee, but then stopped in their tracks. They somehow knew something was wrong. Something was very wrong, indeed. Marianne peered closely at the door, and was surprised to see it completely shut. "Nigel, who closed the door?" 

"Maybe Elizabeth did." 

"No, she never closes the door." Debbie added. A thought crossed their mind. 

"It must have been Eliza!" Nigel growled. "I told her to stay out of the comvee." 

Marianne scratched her chin thoughtfully. "Maybe she only wanted to close the door for us." But she too was starting to believe that Eliza had indeed gone inside against their warnings. Nigel knelt on the floor and noticed something red and sticky. _'Blood.'_ He moved his finger in some of it, and sniffed it. 

"Fox blood, if I'm not mistaken. There's a trail of it lead right there." He pointed towards a trap. It was the one Eliza had been holding. Marianne dashed over and picked up the trap. There was nothing on it, but there were some pieces of fox hair plastered on it. She narrowed her eyes. "There's only one person who could have done this. Only one person who knows where we are would free one of our animals." Everyone knew instantly who it had to be. They all looked at each other, and they each had the some thought in mind. Find Eliza. 

"Eliza!" They shouted angrily in unison. They ran into the comvee, and Marianne instantly took the wheel. She turned on the comvee, and started to drive it in one direction. 

"We'll find Eliza. Maybe she's taken Elizabeth captive!" They didn't say anything after that. They were too intent on finding Eliza, and making her pay big time. 

"Ooh...Ooh....Where are I?" Murmured a drowsy Eliza as she lifted her head up. She noticed she was sitting on a black chair, and the room was a bit small. It wasn't that small, but it was the size of a school office room. She looked around as she tried to stand up. Surprisingly, she was able to. _'The last thing I remember is being dragged off by Kip and Biederman.'_ At first she displayed a thought of fear. Perhaps Kip and his partner were kidnapping her. Well, of course they were, but maybe they were good guys. _'What a stupid idea.'_ She remarked herself. But still, it would make a lot of sense. Her family was the bad guys here. Wouldn't it make sense that Biederman and Kip were good? Maybe even Sloan and Bree were good. But Eliza didn't want to take any chances. She walked towards the door, which had a window, and peered through. She could see Sloan standing there, looking in the opposite direction. He had a pen and piece of paper out, and seemed to be writing something. 

"Hmmm..." He sighed, and looked in Eliza's direction. She quickly ducked down, but the man had spotted her already, and narrowed his eyes. "Looks like the child is awake." He looked at this watch, which read 10:00 AM, and started to walk towards the door, and looked in. _'What?'_ He saw no one. _'Don't tell me she...no..she's hiding beside the door.'_ He smiled to himself. The child was smarter than he had anticipated. He backed up from the door, and slowly unlocked it. He opened it up, and stepped inside. 

"Eliza, no use in hiding." He looked around the room, and failed to see that Eliza was standing right behind him. She pressed herself against the wall, too scared to make a move. "Eliza? I only want to talk." Eliza remembered too well the last encounter she had with Sloan. He had tried to murder her! Her heart started racing when Sloan started to step back in her direction. "Eliza?" He asked again, his patience started to go away. "Just come out!" He finally sensed something, and turned around quickly. Eliza's eyes were wide with fear. "Hello, Thornberry." 

"Sloan Blackburn?" She asked silently. Sloan smiled. "Glad to see that you still remember who I am. Now, Thornberry, where are your family members?" 

The small girl cocked her head to the left and was rather confused. "I don't know..." She replied back. _'Well, my real family is in Australia, but that's another dimension. I've still no idea where my alternate family is.'_ She watched as the man straightened up, but his glare still locked on her. He leaned in closer. 

"That is not an answer. WHERE ARE THEY?!" He screamed in her face. 

She backed up in total fear. She breathed quickly as her heart went even faster. She backed herself against the chair behind her. "I'm telling you, I don't know!" 

"How can you NOT know?" He narrowed his eyes in suspicion. _'This girl should know where her family is.'_ He waited for an answer from her. Eliza Thornberry seemed to be thinking of a possible answer. _'What can I tell him? I could tell him I'm from an alternate dimension. That might work...I hope.' _She turned to him, and he was expecting an answer from her. 

"I'm not the Eliza you know." Was her quick answer. 

Sloan Blackburn blinked a few times. _'Not the Eliza I know? What does she mean?'_ "What do you mean?" The small girl smiled. It wasn't an evil smile as he had expected, but a friendly and understanding one. 

"I mean I'm from an alternate dimension." She smirked, but knew she would have to provide proof of this. She could tell right away because Sloan rolled his eyes in disbelief. 

"Right. Can you PROVE it?" He demanded. She backed up a bit, and sat down in the chair. 

Smiling, she nodded her head. "I hope I can." 

Sloan sighed, and backed away from the child so that she wouldn't feel so intimidated. "Go on." 

"Okay, would poachers know what animal you saved in the Serengeti close to the time when you supposedly saw me?" 

Sloan was taken aback at this. _'Yes, I do remember. Bree and I moved the rhinoceros away before we saw the child. But how did she know?' _"How did you know there was an animal? Were you hiding?" 

The girl shook her head. "No, I wasn't. You see, in my dimension, I was the first one to the rhinoceros, and you were the ones who came by second." 

Sloan backed away in shock. "You got there first? Then that must mean..." 

The girl slowly nodded her head. "Yes, it means that the rhino didn't make it, but not because of me." Her voice lowered almost dangerously. She pointed at Sloan almost accusingly, and continued, "You were the reason for its death. Well, your counterpart anyway." 

By now Sloan was feeling rather nervous now. _'She knew of the black rhinoceros...But why did she say that I'm the one who killed it? I didn't do it!'_ He growled at the girl, and Eliza stepped back in surprise. 

"What? It's the truth!" She protested, and waited for Sloan's outburst. Sloan Blackburn was about to yell when he realized something. _'Perhaps she isn't lying. There are so many animals in Africa. How could she have possibly known exactly what animal I encountered before I met her? She must be telling the truth. But...how did she get here if it's true.'_ He lowered himself to Eliza's level. She stared at him. The look in her eyes was proof enough. They were not full of darkness, but rather full of genuine, and friendliness. Life. He smiled halfway and asked, "Just how did you get here, young girl?" 

Eliza Thornberry scratched her head, and replied, "It's a long story, Sloan. A long story it is...." 

She thought for a moment, and tried to think of what was one of the first things she'd tell him. Sloan narrowed his eyes slightly, and then asked, "Would you mind telling me what happened in Tembo Valley?" 

She blinked in confusion. "Sorry, I'm just…curious to know." She nodded quickly, and looked to the ground. She wasn't sure if she should tell him what had happened. 

She looked up at him. "Are you sure you want to know this? It might leave you scarred for a while." The man before her nodded his head once, and told her that he can handle almost anything. She shrugged her shoulders. "Oh well…." She opened her mouth, and began to retell everything to the Blackburn. 

The scene shifted into the other dimension around 2 months back or so, whenever the solar eclipse occurred. A young girl was running through the elephant herd, and shouting things like, "Stop!" and "Go back!" She grabbed onto one of the bull elephant legs, but he was too strong for her, and he lifted her up off the ground with him. When he stopped his foot in, it cause her to fall into the muddy banks of the landscape as the elephants continued walking along, unaware that they were headed straight into a trap. She watched, horrified, and then grabbed onto the tail of a bull elephant with a broken tusk. Despite the foul smell, she was able to bring herself to climb up the elephant's behind and onto his back. Eliza Thornberry grabbed onto the back of his neck, and watched as the elephants gotten closer and closer… 

Up in the skies, two people were watching as the elephants were getting closer and closer to the fence that they had helped set up. Sloan smiled darkly, and then knew it was time to set off the explosives. "SET OFF THE FIRST ROUND OF EXPLOSIVES NOW!!!" He screamed into the radio he held in his hand. The poachers looked at each other, and nodded. They pulled the rope, and then…nothing happened. Nigel and the Colonel pressed their backs against the side of the cliff, Colonel holding a pair of scissors. 

A poacher picked up the rope, and examined it. Frustrated, he shouted, "The wires have been cut!" 

Sloan was no less angry. But there were still more explosives, so there was still hope for him yet. "Set off the second round!" As soon as he said that order, the poachers on another part of Tembo Valley pulled their wire, and this time the Colonel and Nigel couldn't do anything stop it. 

Huge explosions that shook the ground and irritated Eliza's ear set off, and the elephant she was on, as well as the others, reared on their hind legs and trumpeted in pure terror. The sudden movement was enough to jerk Eliza around the bull elephant, and she desperately grabbed onto his truck. She dangled above the ground as the elephants stampeded across the ground, the earth trembling in their wake. She began to lose her grip, and knew she couldn't hang on long. She held her breath, and let go, and the elephant ran over above her. She turned around quickly, and grabbed the tail of another elephant. She wasn't going to let the elephants die! She just couldn't let that happen! She got on top of the elephant once again, and viewed her surroundings. "I've got to get to the front of the heard." She told herself, and she readied herself to leap across. 

She held her breath, and then made a fateful leap to another elephant, and then to another, and another. Soon the Thornberry girl found herself at the front of the herd. She found herself on the back of an old elephant, who didn't seem to notice the young girl. She was too busy running for her life. Eliza looked ahead, and gasped. They were so close to the fence! She could hear the crackling sound of electricity, and see sparks flying randomly. She closed her eyes, thought for a moment. "Think of something! Think of something!" She then remembered something. She reached into her shirt and pulled out the medal that her father gave her. She could see the words "Awarded for bravery" carved in it. 

_'This has to work.'_ She pulled her arm back, and thrusted the medal as hard as she could, and it went sailing into the air. The medal hit the electric wire, and then bolts of electricity sprang all over the place. The horrified elephant stopped in her tracks, and reared up in fear. Eliza looked behind her, and could only hope that the elephants would understand, and stop. "Please…" Her voice was barely a whisper. "Stop." 

The elephants, eyes widened with confusion, stopped dead in their tracks. They looked at each other, unsure of what to do. Eliza smiled, and yelled softly, "Yes!" Suddenly, another round of explosives set off. Apparently, Sloan had more tricks up his sleeve that Eliza had expected. The elephants, except the lead one, panicked and started running towards them. They trumpeted several times, as if they were asking questions. Eliza closed her eyes tightly and searched her memory banks for another way to stop them. The locket one didn't work for long. "What did Phaedra tell me?" She thought for a moment, then it all came back to her. "Behind the ear!" She positioned herself, and gently pushed her foot into the back of the lead elephant's right ear. She seemed confused at first, and then suddenly reared on her hind legs. Eliza struggled to hang on. The elephant hit the ground with her front legs, and then slowly turned around. _'She understood!'_

Eliza couldn't help but smile, and she said, "We did it! Let's get out of here!" The lead elephant trumpeted a command to the other elephants, and they slowly turned around away from the fence. 

From inside the dark green helicopter, Sloan watched the scene with disgust. "They're turning around! Start shooting!" He ordered into his radio. 

A poacher by the name of Olaf was standing by the edge, witnessing the elephants turning away. He was also one of the many who had witnessed Eliza's sudden bravery. "But there's a girl there." 

He winced as Sloan shouted, "I DON'T CARE!! Take down those elephants!" Sloan thought for a moment. _'Eliza…you'll pay.' _His mind said dangerously. "I'll take care of the kid." He added in, and then he turned and looked towards the elephants. Sure enough, there was Eliza riding on one of them. He ordered his wife to go low. Eliza, of course, was unaware of this. She was too happy with the fact that she had saved the elephants from certain death. 

"Everything's gonna be alright! We're almost out of here!" She shouted gleefully. She never noticed the helicopter behind her, until it was too late. 

She suddenly felt something grabbing her. She looked up, and saw a very angry Sloan Blackburn, hanging front a rope ladder. He snatched her by the right arm, and lifted her high into the air. Eliza whimpered a few times, and could only watch as she was helplessly dangling above the ground, being pulled in tow by the poacher. 

Sloan looked in the direction that they were going, and then growled, "You WILL regret this!" 

Eliza showed her bravery once again, and pounded her fist into the poacher's hand. "I DON'T CARE! What you're doing is awful!" She closed her eyes tightly in pain as the poacher pulled her closer to him. 

"And what you're doing is stupid!" He yelled in her face. He then observed the river below. 'That's how I'll get rid of her…No one would be able to survive.' He turned back to Eliza, an evil smile on his face. "Shame you won't be here to help me carry out the ivory!" He snarled in her face, and he pulled her back, and, with all the strength he had, threw her down towards the river below. He smiled darkly as he watched Eliza scream at the top of her lungs as she plunged into the raging river below… 

"STOP!!" The scene shifted back to the room where the good Sloan and Eliza were chatting. Sloan couldn't stand another word about it. It may have been different, but something about it was making him uneasy. 

"Sorry, Sloan…too much for ya or something?" 

The man looked at her curiously, and lowered his head. "I just can't believe that in another world, I'm such a…." 

"…monster?" The young girl suggested, but then cleared her throat. "Never mind about that. Everything turned out fine in the end, I think." She scratched her head, and looked at the naturalist. It was time to tell him what happened to make her come to this world. _'But I don't even know how it happened…'_ But she knew she had to tell. How else could he help her? "Well," She said, "I suppose you want me to tell you how I got here…" Sloan nodded his head. "I don't remember much," Eliza told him as she began pacing around the room. "But I will tell you what I remember." And so she began to tell Sloan everything that had happened right before she found herself in this parallel dimension. 

Elizabeth Thornberry ran. She ran as far away as she could. Confusion and overwhelmingness started to overcome her mind. She just kept running away from it all. There was no use staying back at the camp. Eliza rescuing her baffled Elizabeth. 'Why did she save me?' That was the question she kept asking herself. The swift fox finally stopped running, and sat down on a nearby rock to think about the things that had happened. As a poacher, she was not as experienced with the gratitude of being rescued. She was grateful this time, but why? Why was she grateful? But more importantly, why did Eliza save her even after she found out Elizabeth was a poacher?__

_'And why didn't I pull out the gun on her?' _Elizabeth was confused about that, too. She had the opportunity to kill Eliza, but she didn't take it. There were more things on her mind than just those things. She also wanted to know why Eliza loved animals so much. What was there to love? 

"As far as I can tell, they're just lower creatures put here to serve us superior humans." Elizabeth muttered to herself, and looked up at the bright sun. She shielded her eyes, and lowered her gaze to the ground, and saw her shadow casted on the dirt surface. Elizabeth felt her mind become lost in a sea of thoughts. _'What am I to do now?' _She sighed, and watched the breeze blow through the nearby trees. She found herself smiling at this display of Mother Nature at work, but shook herself out of that thought. _'What am I thinking?! I can't become like THEM!'_ She growled involuntarily. 

She looked away from the trees, and worried that her mind would wander off like that again. Her brown eyes narrowed to almost slits, and she felt her fur bristle. But she didn't know if that was from anger, or from the wind. "Eliza is such a crazy kid." She heard herself say out loud. She knew she couldn't be too loud, or her family would spot her. They wouldn't know it was their daughter, so they'd shoot. Elizabeth sighed. She never told anyone about her power, and Eliza was the first one to witness a transformation. 

**_If I were a bird then I'd be free_**   
**_Free to leave this place slowly_**   
**_I don't know it all around_**   
**_Get away without a sound_****__**

**_Silence awakening my soul_**   
**_Nothing left, nothing left to make me whole_**   
**_To try again and start anew_**   
**_To make the change to help me through_**

She got up and walked towards a nearby lake. It was started to dry up. _'It's close to that dry season my dad talked about.'_ She squinted her eyes against the bright sunlight. She felt her paws burn as she stepped onto the dry land. _'This is what I get for picking an animal not suited for this type of condition.'_ She mocked herself. She smiled faintly, but didn't know why. She walked right by the lake, and lowered her head towards the pool of water, and started to lap up water. Being a swift fox at the moment, she had to drink like a real fox would, or the animals would become suspicious of her. She hated drinking like an animal, but in this form, she had no choice. 

When she was drinking, she opened her brown eyes and looked at her reflection. She didn't think much of it at first, but when she looked again, she saw something she hadn't noticed before. She stopped drinking and raised her head up. Her wide dark eyes locked onto the eyes of her reflection. She may have been in animal form, but what she didn't notice until now was what was reflecting back from those animal eyes. It was life itself. She stepped back, but still looked at her animal reflection. She noticed whenever she breathed, the animal breathed. Her heartbeat pumped the same rate as the animal pumped. 

**_As the rain begins to fall_**   
**_Casting shadows on the wall_**   
**_I close my eyes and dare the thunder_**   
**_Break the spell that I've been under_**

She lifted her gaze and looked at the animals around her. There were some cheetahs, lions, and elephants all coming down for a quick drink at the watering hole. She looked left to right, scanning the entire area. She watched the animals' stomachs move in and out as they breathed in and breathed out. _'I never saw this until now.'_ She blinked, and stared. Why hadn't she noticed this before? Elizabeth Thornberry watched as a couple of lion cubs ran around the plains. She watched as they jumped on top of one another, and playfully bit each other. She understood that they were playing now. Elizabeth felt her heart warm up as she witnessed a mother elephant help her young one up off the ground. She saw cheetah moms cleaning their cubs thoroughly, and finally Elizabeth understood what Eliza had meant when she told her that animals were people. "Animals care...like we care." The dark girl looked to the ground, and suddenly felt shame overcome her heart. 

"They may be different, but they're family." She whispered lightly. She narrowed her eyes and lifted her head up. Her ears and fur swayed in the wind. _'Eliza Thornberry, I understand now.' _She took off back towards the camp to look for Eliza Thornberry. 

**_Escape the world, they cannot see_**   
**_That all that's empty lies in me_**   
**_To try again and start anew_**   
**_And make the change to help me through_**

She ran back as fast as she could and finally came to the clearing. "Eliza! Eliza!" She shouted loudly, and hoped to get the light girl's attention. But she stopped and froze in horror. _'My family's comvee...it's gone!'_ Indeed it was. She saw the tire tracks leading away from the camp area. The tables and such were still set, but everything else was gone. Her family was gone. She lowered her ears, and glanced at the dried grass. "Hmm?" She noticed something red in the grass. She leaned closely to it, and noticed it was her blood. She sniffed the area. 

"My dad was here. So was my mom." Uh oh...That only meant one thing. Her parents thought that Eliza Thornberry let loose one of their trapped animals, and were after her. _'But where is Eliza?'_ Elizabeth sniffed around a little more, and found the spot were her counterpart's scent was the strongest. Her eyes snapped open in shock. It wasn't just Eliza she smelled. Kip and Biederman were there, and there was a whiff of knockout gas. It almost made Elizabeth sick. She saw tracks leading away from camp. "Oh, no, Eliza!" She started to run towards the way of the tracks. She had to find Eliza. She had to! 

**_Makes me want to fly away_**   
**_No reasons left to make me stay_**   
**_To quit before I even start_**   
**_To leave this darkness in my heart_****__**

"Next thing I knew, I was here." Eliza finished her sentence with relief. She gave a few pants, and looked at Sloan. She awaited a response._ 'I wonder if he'll believe me.'_ She anticipated a bad answer. Sloan on the other hand was wondering if he should believe her. After all, Eliza was one of their worst enemies. What good will it do listening to this child? It may be a trap. 

The man slowly glared at the girl, but then got some second thoughts. "Okay, child. I'll believe you...for now." He slowly climbed to his feet. 

The girl smiled heartily. "Thanks!" She said brightly. She also climbed to her feet, and waited for Sloan to say something. He looked at her, and then motioned towards the girl. 

"Come with me. We have to talk to Bree about this." He said simply as he walked out of the door. 

Eliza Thornberry stood there for a few moments longer, but recollected herself and ran off after him. "Hey wait!" She called as she left the door and ran out into the hallway. Sloan stood beside the wall. 

He had stopped to wait for Eliza to catch up. _'This is another proof she can't be the same Eliza. She's not as fast.'_ Sloan watched the girl catch her breath as she slowly walked towards him, a small glare on her face. She stopped and stood by him. She didn't look too happy, but she calmed down before she could do anything bad. Sloan gave a sigh. "Bree! Come over here!" He knocked on the door they were standing in front of. 

"Coming!" Eliza heard Bree's voice, and then the door opened. 

The woman stepped out of the door, and grumbled. "What is it Sloan? Can't you see I'm....huh?" She stared at Eliza, and gasped. "Sloan, you let her out?" She stared at him with disbelief. 

The man simply smiled, and said, "She seems to be an alternate version. A good one." Bree blinked her eyes, and turned her attention to the little girl named Eliza Thornberry. Eliza nodded her head, expressing the fact that Sloan Blackburn was indeed telling the truth. The woman turned her head to the side, then back and knelt down in front of the girl. 

"You had better hope you're telling the truth, young lady." She warned. She didn't fully believe her yet, but if Sloan said she could be trusted, then she could trust the child, as well. 

"So, what do we do now?" Sloan asked Bree, who stepped back in surprise.____

_'What is this guy talking about?'_ She swallowed and asked the question. "What are you talking about?" Sloan smacked his head. 

"Of course! I didn't tell you!" He motioned forward. "Bree, this child says that Elizabeth's parents are looking for her. This may be our one chance to have a clear shot at catching them." 

Eliza nodded to Bree, but then gasped. "Oh no!" She breathed in, her hands against both sides of her head. She shook her head, and shivered a few times. Bree and Sloan widened their eyes in surprise. 

"Eliza?" Sloan walked towards her, and dropped to his knees. "What is it, child?" 

"Elizabeth! She ran off before I was kidnapped! She's still out there." She looked up at Bree worriedly. "What'll we do now?" 

Sloan and Bree's minds were registered in horror. "This is not good." Bree said to herself. "This is not good." They heard footsteps to the left of the hallway. Then they heard the sound of a door opening and then closing. _'Kip! He must be leaving his office!' _Sloan smiled slightly. A shadow casted on the walls. Eliza stepped back, but the shadow took shape. She squinted her eyes, and slowly recognized the figure. 

"Kip?" She said almost happily. _'I never thought I'd be happy to see him!'_ She told herself excitedly. 

Kip might be their best chance of getting out of this mess. "That Biederman, always making such a mess of things." They heard Kip say as he angrily marched out of the room. Apparently, Biederman did something to annoy Kip. He turned the corner, and froze in his tracks when he saw Eliza Thornberry standing there. But everyone stared at him, too. All over this face was green toothpaste, and a few dirty feathers was stuck in his dark hair. Sloan smacked his face, and slowly shook his head. Bree choked back a chuckle, and Eliza couldn't hold back her laughter for long. She let out a few loud laughs, falling to her knees as she giggled. Kip growled at this. "Yeah, yeah...this is soooo amusing!" He glared daggers at Bree and Eliza, and slowly picked the stuff out of his hair and wiping his face. "Now, as I was trying to ask before I was so rudely interrupted," He glared at Eliza and Bree again, "Why is Eliza out of the room? I thought that she was to remain there." 

Sloan nodded his head slowly. "Yes, she was. But we found out we got the wrong girl." 

Kip narrowed his eyes. "What? What do you mean we got the wrong girl?" 

Sloan placed his hand gently on the other man's shoulder. _'It'll be too long to explain it all.' _The man thought. _'I'll tell him later. Right now we have to prepare for the Thornberrys' arrival!'_ "It's a long story. I'll tell you it all in detail later. But right now the other Thornberrys are coming! We have to prepare!" 

Now Kip was rather more confused, but he didn't want to question Sloan's orders. He nodded his head, and saluted Sloan. "Yes, sir!" He turned and walked away, but took one last look at Eliza Thornberry. _'I sure hope he knows what he's doing.'_ He went to another door. It was red, unlike the other doors, which were either white, black, or green. Above the red door, it read AUTHORIZED ENTRANCE ONLY. 

Eliza scratched her head. _'Now that's unusual to say.' _What did they mean by authorized entrance only? Eliza thought that she had the right to know, but also knew that now wasn't the time. She thought that she didn't need to know, and just wanted to get back to her own dimension. The sooner the better in her case. 


	5. Into The Trap

Back in Eliza's native dimension, Debbie pounded on the doors belonging to the officers. One of them stepped out, and gently shoved her away. She picked herself off the ground, and wiped the dust off of her shirt. "Come on." She growled angrily. "We know you're hiding something!" She pointed a finger accusingly at the two tan-skinned guards. They both had tags on their shirts, identifying who they were. John and Adam they were. Adam shook his head slowly, and opened up his light blue eyes. 

"I'm sorry." He said. 

John continued, "We're not allowed to speak of such things without authority." 

Debbie slapped her face. She grabbed one of them by the shirts and snarled in their faces. "What kind of guards are you?! My sister's been missing for more than 24 hours, and all you can do is sit there!? It may have been Sloan, and only you two can give us some clear answers!" 

Marianne walked to her hysterical elder daughter. Putting her hand on the girl's shoulder, she gently pried her hands off of the man. "Come down dear." Marianne Thornberry then turned her glance towards Adam and John, who looked at her a bit nervously. They were worried they'd get a similar reaction out of Marianne. 

"Excuse my daughter. She's a bit upset." 

She winced and shrank her head to her shoulders as her teenaged daughter screamed in frustration. "A BIT UPSET?! THAT DOESN'T EVEN DESCRIBE IT!!!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. Everyone else was plugging their ears. 

Nigel turned to Debbie, and raised a hand. "Deborah, why don't you go back to the comvee and keep an eye on Darwin and Donnie, all right?" 

Debbie rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Okay." She said, and walked off towards the comvee. The comvee was sitting out only about 20 ft away. She opened up the door and closed it. The first thing she noticed as Darwin munching on his Cheese Crunchies, and Donnie squeezing her shampoo all over the place. Debbie fumed, and gritted her teeth. "DONNIE!!" She began chasing the wild child all over the comvee. The commotion was so loud that the vehicle was actually bouncing up and down. 

Nigel and Marianne winced as they heard sounds of Darwin screeching, Debbie screaming, Donnie jabbering, and the comvee moving up and down. Marianne turned to the officers. They both had a wide-eyed look in their faces. The woman shrugged her shoulders. "That's just how she gets." 

Nigel cleared this throat. "Now that that is out of the way...We came here because we wanted to ask you questions about what Sloan has been up to lately." 

John blinked in surprise. "Ask us? You already did!" He held his hands out and shrugged his shoulders as if confused. _'What more do they want?'_ John wondered. 

The naturalist sighed. "Debbie seems to think that you're hiding something." He pointed out. "And I'm beginning to think she's right." 

John was taken aback by this statement, and Adam placed his hand in front of his mouth. John looked at his partner, and asked, "Can I go? I don't want to be here when..." 

Adam nodded. He was the oldest of the two, and John thought of him as his boss. He shook his head, and then said to Nigel, "Okay, I'll tell you what I know. Just don't tell Sloan I told ya." Marianne smiled and nodded. 

"Your secret's safe with us." Nigel said. Adam backed up a little, and started to explain everything he knew. It wasn't much, but it would link Sloan to Eliza's disappearance hopefully. 

"Okay, here's what I know. Sloan had been going in and out of jail lately. He was having one of us drive him to someplace called Poacher Guild, where he met with Bree. We weren't allowed to talk about it, and if we refused he'd kill us." 

He got a breather, and then continued with the explanation, "I once snuck in the Poacher Guild, and listened to Bree and Sloan talk. They mentioned something about this machine to eliminate Eliza Thornberry from this very dimension. I still don't know what they were talking about, but it sounds serious." 

Gasping, Marianne and Nigel looked at each other with the same shocked look._ 'From this very dimension? What could he possibly have meant by that?'_ The female naturalist gestured for him to continue, but the officer simply waved his hands out in front of him. "I'm sorry." He shrugged. "That's all I know." 

Nigel clamped his hand over his mouth. He gazed at Marianne, and back at Adam. "Oh my, what could Sloan have possibly meant by that?" 

"I don't know Nigel, but it worries me." 

"I know." A female voice announced from behind them. 

"Ahh!" Nigel and Marianne jumped in surprise. They turned around and saw Debbie standing there. In one hand he held Donnie, and in the other Darwin. "At least I think I know. I hope I'm wrong, though." Her voice started to show signs of deep depression. Her gaze became distant. 

"Well?" Marianne asked her daughter. "What is it?" 

Debbie looked as if she had a single tear rolling down her face. "Sloan sent her to another dimension, but I don't know how..." 

"WHERE IS SHE?!" A dark voice from the other dimension called out. A large vehicle, the comvee, sped almost out of control as it almost struck the side of a dead tree. The man inside, the evil Nigel Thornberry, tried to turn the key in the ignition, but it wouldn't budge. He angrily struck it with his fist. "Turn on!" He shouted. He hit it again, and finally they heard the sounds of the engine going. He turned his attention towards the front, and kept a look out for Eliza. _'That brat thinks she can get away from tricking us? Well we'll see about that...'_ He pressed his foot on the pedal harder. Apparently, he could drive the comvee better than the other Nigel Thornberry, not that the good Nigel couldn't drive at all. 

Marianne sat in the other seat and was the lookout. She placed her arm over her head, and scanned the horizon. "I don't see Eliza, or Elizabeth, anywhere." She announced, frustration started to get the best of her. "If only we thought more carefully...We should've just...I don't know." The adult female poacher grumbled angrily. 

Debbie narrowed her eyes. "I know Eliza could not have gotten far." She turned her gaze upwards and out of the window. She stared hard and long, and finally spotted something. "THERE! STOP THERE!" She pointed and jumped almost excitedly at something in their pathway. 

Nigel slammed on the brakes, and unbuckled himself. "What is it, Debbie?" Debbie ran out of the comvee, and walked up to the object that she had seen laying there for no reason. 

"Look." She lowered herself to her knees, and picked up the object. It was yellow, and made of fabric. The same kind that is used in clothing. Nigel picked it up and smelled it. His keen sense of smell almost surpasses that of the naturalist Nigel Thornberry. 

The poacher snarled once, and announced, "Eliza. She was here." He straightened up right away and looked down the pathway. He could very well tell that Eliza had been this way. The trail of scent zigzagged up the road, and in the direction of... 

"Sloan and Bree!" Debbie shouted. "She probably went to them for help!" She hissed, and gave the direction a death glare. _'Wait until I get my hands on her.'_ She thought with a vengeance. 

Marianne hopped back in the comvee. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's move!" 

Eliza moved down the hallway with Sloan and Bree. They were taking her to a room where they could discuss more of the problem that they were facing. They were convinced that this Eliza was good, and seemed a bit willing to help her. But they were still worried about something. They needed to catch the poacher family before they could do anymore harm. Eliza thought that she may know a way, but it would be very tricky. 

Sloan said, "How tricky are we talking about?" 

Eliza looked at him with a look of anticipation. "Very tricky. And yes you'll need some bait. Something to lure them out, you know?" She grabbed a book. They had arrived in the room. It was the library. The book Eliza grabbed was filled with pages of information on every animal in Africa. She skimmed through the thousand page or so books, and tried to look for something that a poacher may want. She finally found something worthwhile. "This!" She pointed at a picture of a black shadow. Sloan and Bree walked over. "That's what we could use as bait!" The picture of the animal was a rare Black Rhinoceros. 

Bree looked at the picture, a bit surprised. "You want us to capture a Black Rhinoceros? Don't you think that..." 

"No, no." Eliza waved her arms in front of her in denial. "That's not what I meant." She looked at the picture again, and pressed her finger against the picture. "What I mean is make them believe what they're seeing is a Black Rhinoceros and they may take the bait." 

Sloan rubbed his chin in thought, and looked at the small girl. _'Interesting approach.'_ "And just how are we going to do that? How can we trick them?" 

"Well, we could take a full-body Black Rhinoceros costume and walk around in brush. They see it, and think it's real, and go after it, giving the rest of us time to get to where we need to go, and build a trap accordingly." 

Bree nodded, smiling. However there was one thing that bothered her. "And exactly who is going to wear the costume?" She asked Eliza. The two females looked at each other. They blinked a few times, then all four eyes locked on Sloan. The man looked at the girls, who were staring at him and smiling almost devilishly. His eyes widened like saucers as he realized what they were going to do. 

"Oh no..." He backed up, his hands out in front of himself to defend. "There is no way I'm going to do that! Not no way, not no how." He folded his arms like a stubborn child. Bree and Eliza smiled at each other, and walked closer to Sloan, who started to back up. "No...no....NO!!!" 

The two girls were upon him. Before he knew it, Sloan had been fitted with a large rhino costume. It covered him from head to toe. The skin was a bit flabby, but it worked nicely. The ears flopped to the side of the man's face, and seemed to hover in his eyesight. They drooped like a puppy dog's ears would. The head part of the rhino slipped over his face, and blocked his eyesight almost completely. He could barely see where he was going. The coloration was a dark color like a normal Black Rhinoceros, except there was a few white spots visible on a couple parts of the costume. 

Blushing furiously, he shouted at the two, "I look like a rhino who spent part of his lifetime painting himself with white spots!" He waved his hand in the air in the form of a fist. 

Bree and Eliza couldn't help themselves. They laughed loud and long. Eliza managed to say, "That's the funniest thing I ever....." She fell to the ground, and tried to calm herself down. "I'm okay." She said weakly as her laughter slowly came to a halt. 

An angry Sloan picked himself up off the ground and walked over to her. He glared daggers at her. "This is the last time we use any of these costumes." The darkness in his mutter made Eliza's blood freeze. But she didn't have time to worry about that now. 

"I know they're coming sooner or later. We have to get ready!" Sloan and Bree nodded to each other, and together they took off outside, and Eliza scanned the horizon for any signs of the avenging parents. 

Elizabeth, still in fox form, lifted her long head into the air, and sniffed around. _'I know she came this way.'_ Her brown eyes narrowed as she tried to figure out which way to go. The paths looked the same. The trees swayed in her presence. She smiled, and lowered her head. _'They've gone...this way!'_ She turned to the west and took off. She kept running. Her heart raced as the time slipped by. "I have to find Eliza." She said as the wind pressed against her face as she ran. There was no way that anything was going to stop her now! _'She saved me. Now it's time to pay my debt.'_ She finally came to a clearing. The road had ended. _'Finally.'_ She smiled and walked forward and onto the outside part of the forest. She gasped as she looked ahead. It was her family, and they seemed in a big hurry to somewhere. Memories flooded back to her, and she realized just what they were going to do. _'No...'_ She narrowed her ears and growled viciously. 

"They mustn't!" Elizabeth ran down the side of the hill she was on, and took off. She decided to turn and hide, because if her parents see her, they'll only see a fox, and not a person. _'I just hope I can figure out some way to stall them...or help Eliza.'_ Elizabeth lied down in the dry grass, and tried her best to stay hidden while her family approached. 

The dark Thornberrys were getting dangerously close to the hiding spot of which Sloan, Bree, and Eliza were staying in. Eliza looked, and watched the family draw closer and closer. She hunched down on all fours like the two adults with her were. She squinted her eyes to get a better look, and noticed that the family was slowing down. "Looks like they're going to stop." She whispered. She shifted her attention towards Sloan, who was still angry about having to wear the rhino suit. "Okay, when I count to three, you get into your position. Okay?" She held up her fingers, three of them, and counted down, lowering each finger each time. "Three...two...ONE!!" She pointed outwards, the signal. 

Reluctantly, Sloan walked over to the outer part of the brush, careful not to expose himself entirely. He did manage to raise his body up off the ground and expose the back part of the costume. If done right, he was told, it should make it believable that it's a Black Rhinoceros lying down. _'I'll get Eliza for this.'_ Sloan swore as he felt embarrassed about the suit. Bree and Eliza giggled, but they had to keep their voices down. 

Bree gasped as the vehicle, the comvee, stopped. "I think it's working." She said in a low voice. The two females watched from a distance, anticipating what would happen, and if the plan would work. 

Nigel's eyes widened as he looked ahead. Something dark-colored risen over a couple of dried up foliage. "Look!" He shouted, and pressed his feet quickly to the pedal, halting the comvee. Everyone else felt themselves tossed forward, and grabbed a hold of something to keep their balance. 

Marianne angrily brushed hair from in front of her face. "Nigel, what was that for?!" But she noticed that his glance wasn't towards her or Debbie. It was towards the outside of the comvee. She got up and walked over towards the front of the comvee. She peered outside, and noticed what Nigel was looking at. A Black Rhinoceros had risen up off the ground partway, and was standing right in their way. Marianne's face scrunched to an evil smile. 

"A Rhinoceros? Perfect!" She scrambled her pockets for her pistol shotgun. "Shall we take that animal down first?" 

Nigel thought for a moment, and also nodded, his face looking menacing. "Yes...and then Eliza." 

Debbie's arms dropped to her side as she watched them getting ready for the kill. She closed her eyes, and shook her head. "Oh, boy. Here we go again." She placed her hand on her forehead to block her view. She didn't need anymore animal bloodshed for today. 

The comvee started to swerve and go faster towards the Black Rhinoceros, who was really Sloan Blackburn in disguise. He saw them coming, and started to shake violently. He looked at Eliza, who placed a finger on her lips, and signaled for him to remain quiet. She glared harshly at the oncoming comvee. Never before in her life would she rather see the comvee sink in the bottom of the ocean than running on the dry land, fully functional. The comvee drew closer, and she and Bree got ready to run outwards. The comvee got closer and closer... 

Finally Eliza stood up and shouted, "RUN!!!" Right away, Sloan picked himself up, still on fours, and ran as fast as he could in one direction. The poachers were so worried about catching the "rhino" that they failed to notice Eliza standing there and running off with Bree. Well most of them didn't anyway. Debbie saw something out of the corner of her eyes. Her gaze narrowed into slits. 

She growled and turned to her parents. "Mom! Dad!" 

Nigel growled, "Not now. We still have the creature in our sights!" 

Debbie protested angrily, "But dad, I just saw..." 

"That has got to be the scrawniest looking rhino I've ever seen!" Marianne shouted above Debbie's voice and pointed in the direction of the animal. Nigel made the comvee go faster, and they were catching up. The blonde teenager couldn't take this anymore, and screamed at the top of her lungs. 

"I SAW THAT TREE-HUGGING ELIZA!!!!" 

Nigel and Marianne widened their eyes and Nigel slammed the brakes on the comvee. Sloan stopped and hid behind a rock, and was watching warily. _'Why have they stopped..unless...oh no! They must've spotted Eliza and Bree!'_

Outside the vehicle, dust had kicked up and was blocking everyone's view from inside the vehicle. Marianne and Nigel coughed a little because some of the dust reached inside. 

The two poachers turned around. "You saw Eliza?" Debbie nodded. 

With a look of vengeance, Nigel asked darkly, "Where?" 

The teenager nodded again, and pointed towards the back end of the comvee. "I saw her and Bree Blackburn run in that direction." 

Marianne recognized that trail. She smiled evilly. "Perfect. They're headed straight towards that valley area, whatever it's called. It's a dead end. We'll be able to trap them there." With that, the family of poachers changed directions, and went the opposite way that they had been going. Sloan rose up, and slowly took off his costume. _'This is not good.'_ He thought as he watched the family disappear from sight. 

Elizabeth watched the entire situation, and was becoming more and more desperate to find Eliza. "I've got to warn her." With that thought in mind she changed into another animal. More specifically, she became a Peregrine Falcon, and flew towards the direction of the valley. With her incredible eyesight, she should be able to spot Eliza and Bree from a long distance away. She finally found them, walking now, along the trail towards the valley. But because this was a different way, Bree didn't recognize the jungle, and neither did Eliza Thornberry. _'___

_There they are!'_ Elizabeth swooped down and landed behind the foliage. She landed a couple of miles in front of the two, so she could de-transform without someone catching her. She lowered her position, and waited for the two to come over. _'I just hope I can convince Eliza and Bree to believe me.'_ She looked to the ground in shame. She still remembered what she had said to Eliza the last time that they saw each other, and it wasn't anything nice. _'I told her animals were just animals...and nothing more. I know now that I am wrong.'_ She sighed, and sat down on her knees. 

Bree and Eliza walked along the dugout path. They smiled gently as a few animals scurried by. "Isn't nature wonderful?" Eliza heard herself ask Bree. _'Why did I ask her that? She wouldn't..oh yeah...alternate dimensions..'_

Bree smiled, and nodded. It was her answer, yes. Eliza gazed at the taller woman, but still felt intimidated by her presence somehow. What did she need to worry for? The family was headed in the wrong direction after Sloan, and they're going this way to make the trap. Sloan is supposed to turn around and head their way towards the trap itself. Bree assured Eliza that her husband could run fast for very long periods of time. 

They then both felt something flash behind them. "What was that?" Eliza asked Bree anxiously. Bree looked nervous herself, but she didn't have an answer as to what it was that ran by them. The shadowy figure appeared again, this time from behind the bush in front of them. Eliza stepped back, and Bree moved herself in front of the child to protect her. 

The figure stepped out into the light. It was a girl like Eliza, and she was waving her hands in the air, and shouted, "IT'S A TRAP!!!" Both of the people knew who this was, and both were equally full of aghast. 

They shouted, in unison, "Elizabeth?!" 

Back in the other dimension, Nigel and Marianne were still trying to digest the information that was given to them by Debbie Thornberry. "Deborah, are you positive?" Nigel asked, concern and some doubt in his voice. 

The teenaged child slowly nodded her head sadly. "Yeah. I watched a Sci-Fi movie once, and that's what happened." 

Marianne cocked an eyebrow. She said in an accusing voice, "Oh, and I thought you didn't like Star Wars." 

Debbie narrowed her eyes. She placed her hands on her hips angrily. "I don't!" 

The two parents stepped back one footstep at her outburst. _'We've no time for this.'_ Nigel thought as he looked towards the skies. _'If Debbie is right, and Eliza is in another dimension...' _He couldn't finish his thought. His wife had gently grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. "Nigel, we have to find those poachers!" Her voice sounded determined, and he knew he wouldn't be able to calm her down until they find Eliza. 

All of a sudden, she felt something wet on her jeans. "What the...DONNIE!!" She screeched. Donnie had gotten a hold of the shampoo again, and was spraying Debbie's jeans with them. This time, Debbie couldn't hold back her anger nearly as well as last time, and she gave Donnie the death glare. "Wait 'till I get my hands on you, you little...!" She snarled, and began chasing Donnie again. 

"Oh boy, there they go again." Nigel said, pointing at the two humans running around in circles around the comvee. Marianne rubbed her head. She was getting a headache with all this. Eliza had disappeared a while ago, and they knew where she was now. The problem was that they couldn't get to her. They'd have to find the poachers responsible for that. They were Sloan and Bree Blackburn. Bree might be a little easier to handle, but Sloan was a different story. The blonde woman shouted, 

"Come on, you two!" She had Darwin's hand and was guiding him back towards the comvee. "We need to go and find Sloan and Bree Blackburn!" Debbie stopped as she grabbed Donnie by the arm. She seemed a bit surprised, but was a little happy that they were heading back to Sloan. Now she could give him a piece of her mind. She smiled almost evilly, but shook herself out of the trance. She sighed, and walked back to the comvee, and held Donnie in her arms. 

He struggled to get loose, but she responded to his efforts, "Don't even try it, because I'm not coming back for you if you do." Hearing this, the jungle kid immediately stopped, and sadly jabbered as the comvee door slammed behind him, and the comvee started moving back towards the direction of the jail. _'I will have a nice and long talk with Sloan Blackburn and Bree Blackburn.'_ Marianne thought as they headed towards the jail. Anger was on everyone's mind. Debbie was no better. She looked ready to kill. 


	6. Dark Dimension's History

Meanwhile, in the other dimension, Bree and Eliza had come in contact with Elizabeth. She didn't pose herself in any aggressive positions. She seemed calm and relaxed. Well not really relaxed because she had a look of horror plastered on her face. Her eyes were so wide that Eliza could see the veins in her counterpart's eyes. 

Elizabeth panted wildly, and managed to say, "My family's coming this way. You've got to hide!" 

Eliza snapped out of her trance, and growled slightly, "Why should we listen to you?" Bree Blackburn nodded in agreement. Elizabeth could be trying to trick them. After all, she had tricked Eliza once before. No doubt she could do that same thing again. Eliza was still angry about that. 

Bree said, "Yeah, why should we listen to you?" The dark girl's expression shifted to a look of disbelief._ 'Why don't they believe me? Oh...right...I'm a poacher. Or was a poacher, anyway.'_ She stepped forward, and held out her arms as a sign that she's not going to attack them. 

"I'm serious, you two. I mean you no harm. Just trust me." 

The light girl narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "I still don't think I should trust you." 

Elizabeth dropped her arms to her side in defeat. How was she going to convince these guys that she's an ally now? She was about to try again when she heard a sound of a gunshot. Bree and Eliza heard it, too, and shifted their gaze behind them. Something was moving at them...moving at them very fast! 

Elizabeth shouted her warning again, "See? See? They're coming! Hide!" They all dove in the bushes. 

The vehicle that came along was the comvee. It had its jungle camouflage out, and one of the poachers was looking out of the window to look for any signs of human life. It was Debbie. She didn't look too happy. 

Eliza shivered. _'If that Debbie sees me, I'm dead!'_ She lay her body down as low and as flat as humanly possible. She could see Elizabeth across from her. She had her finger over her lips, and mouthed the word 'quiet'. Well, she didn't need to be told. With those poachers around, they all knew they had to be low and very quiet. 

They finally heard Debbie shout, "They're not here!" 

Then Nigel's voice could be heard. "Then let's get going!" The comvee suddenly picked up speed, and Bree, Eliza, and Elizabeth watched as the comvee went deeper and deeper in the neck of the jungle. 

Eliza sighed, and looked at her counterpart. Elizabeth crawled out from her hiding spot. She looked at Eliza. Both of them had a depressed and shameful look on their faces. 

They stepped forward towards each other, and said in unison, "I'm sorry." They stopped with a surprised look on their faces, and blinked. 

Eliza asked, "Why are you sorry? I'm the one who didn't believe you." The poacher looked at her shamefully. Her gaze fell to the ground. _'Why would she forgive me?'_ A tear finally escaped her eyes, and the light girl gasped. 

"I'm sorry for what I did back there." Eliza's face registered with confusion. She wondered what this girl could be talking about. Elizabeth may have been her alternate form, but she could not understand why or what this girl was sorry for. 

"For what?" Elizabeth closed her eyes and felt a little trickle of tears run down her face and smash into the ground. Although it was small, to her it sounded like a giant wave crashing into the rocky surface of the beach. 

"I'm sorry for what I've done to you. Sorry for hurting animals. You know the whole deal." Eliza couldn't help but feel morally shocked by this strange turn of events. _'She's supposed to be my evil counterpart. Why is she acting like this?'_ Then something clicked. She may have realized the error in her ways, and wanted to make up for it. Eliza smiled, and stepped towards her mourning counterpart. 

"It's okay, Elizabeth." She placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. She looked up. "I forgive you." Elizabeth blinked her eyes a few times and more tears ran down her face. She smiled weakly as more tears came to her eyes. She fought to keep them back. She didn't want to be seen crying. But Eliza had already seen this, but decided to keep it quiet. _'I guess that not everyone wants to be seen like this. I understand.'_

Bree smiled, and couldn't help but be baffled by the girls as they hugged each other, a sign of forgiveness. Then they were all startled by a loud rumbling. Elizabeth's eyes snapped open in shock as the ground below them started to split. 

"ELIZA!!" 

"ELIZABETH!!" 

"BREE!!" 

Their screams of shock went unheard because the roaring gotten so loud that they had to cover their ears. Elizabeth knew what was about to happen. 

"IT'S MY PARENTS!!" She had to shout extremely loud for the other two to hear her. "YOU'VE GOT TO GET OUT OF HERE!! I'LL STALL THEM!!!" 

Eliza and Bree looked reluctant since they didn't want to leave Elizabeth. It was a bit tempting, but she had helped them. They didn't think it would be fair to leave their helper out in the open like this. But they both agreed that they had to do what she told them, and they both took off in another direction towards the valley. 

Elizabeth watched them go, and grabbed a hold of some part of machinery that was sticking out of the ground. She hung on tightly, and refused to let go. _'I hope I can get them to listen.'_ She whimpered thoughtfully. The ground shook even more, and the dirt started to split in all different directions. "Whoa!" She screamed in surprise as she was lifted high into the air. She was right. It was the comvee that had snuck up from underneath them. 

Nigel laughed darkly, "I've got you now!" But then he realized that there was no one in his sights. "What? Where'd they go?" 

Debbie grumbled, and rolled her eyes in disgust. "You lost them, dad." 

Elizabeth was still clinging onto the part of machinery that had stuck out of the ground. She looked closely, and realized it was one of the claws that was equipped on the comvee for defense! Marianne was about to say something to keep Nigel and Debbie calm when she saw something hanging onto the comvee's claw. She screamed in shock, and grabbed Nigel. 

Pointing towards the girl, she shouted, "NIGEL! LOOK!" Nigel looked out, and was shocked to see that he had grabbed Elizabeth by mistake. Part of him was relieved to see her fine and well. Another part was angry that she had gotten so close to the comvee while they were 'hunting'. He pushed a button and pulled a black lever. Elizabeth felt herself being lowered to the ground, and jumped off the claw when she was low enough. She waved her arms frantically to get her family's attention, and got her wish when they ran out of the comvee to greet her. 

"Oh, I'm so glad you're okay!" Marianne screamed joyfully. If she wasn't wearing the pistol holder around her waist she would have seemed harmless. She hugged her daughter tightly. "Where have you been? Did that infernal Eliza have anything to do with this?" She sounded a bit angry with herself. She felt guilty for sending her daughter back to camp alone like that. Elizabeth shook her head. 

"No, I wandered off on my own..." She covered her mouth in surprise. _'Oh boy.'_ Nigel looked at her as his head seemed to turn just as red as his hair. 

"Why did you wander off? You could've been caught, or worse, killed! These animals can't be trusted!" He was going to say something even worse than that, but he noticed his daughter shaking violently in fear. A sympathetic look crossed his face, and he refrained from continuing. _'I think she's learned her lesson.'_ He kneeled down at her level. "I'm sorry, Elizabeth. Now, let's find those two animal lovers!" He suddenly grabbed Elizabeth and dragged her back to the comvee. He didn't want to risk losing her again. Elizabeth knew she couldn't stop her father. It was impossible while he's like this! She could only watch in terror as the comvee started moving again. This time, it was full throttle. Nothing was going to stop Nigel Thornberry now... 

Sloan got out his phone and had dialed Kip and Biederman for help. _'Where are those guys?'_ He tapped his finger impatiently on the side of a broken down log. It had been at least 45 minutes since he had called those two. It doesn't take this long just to get out and find him. Unless, of course, they were lost, then that would serve as a problem. _'Why do I even bother?'_ Sloan muttered a couple of words when he finally saw some dust kicking up into the air. _'At last.'_ He still wasn't very happy, and was about to yell at the two for being so late, but then he remembered Bree and Eliza being in trouble. The thing causing the dust to kick up was a jeep. Inside it were Kip and Biederman. The jeep was the same color as military jeeps. Sloan still didn't know why they had the jeep like that, but thought it would be best not to mention it. The jeep stopped a few feet from Sloan's place, and the doors swung open. 

Kip hopped out first, and said, "Sorry for the delay sir. I had a bit of a problem..." He gave a sharp glare at Biederman, who was adjusting his sunglasses. 

"So what if it took me 10 minutes to find my glasses?" 

Kip turned to him, and was glaring daggers at his shorter partner. "It took you 20 minutes! And all that time your sunglasses were sitting on top of your head!" 

It was hard to tell if Biederman was afraid or angry because of the shades, but he did step back from his angry partner. He said to Sloan, "Sorry about that." 

Sloan Blackburn stared at the two, but snapped out of it. "I just saw the poacher family." This got Kip and Biederman's attention. They immediately got into soldier position, and awaited their orders. "They went over there." He pointed towards the direction that the family went. The two men looked in that direction, and nodded in unison. They understood where to go. They, too, were familiar with the valley where the eclipse occurs. Sloan continued, "Bree Blackburn and Eliza Thornberry, the good one, had gone in that direction. I want to you to get them out of there as quickly as possible. If possible, try to apprehend the Thornberrys. This time, no mistakes." He seemed to be still angry about them grabbing the wrong human child. 

Kip and Biederman looked at each other, and then back at Sloan. "It was his fault!" They shouted in unison, pointing their fingers at each other. 

Their leader shook his head. He was getting a slight headache. Before things could get any worse, he pointed in the direction again, and gave orders, "Just go and find them." Kip and Biederman nodded, and went back to the jeep. Sloan sighed in almost complete relief as he knew that they were going to be going off for a while. As the jeep sped out of distance, a ton of dust was kicked up into the air, and Sloan coughed it. "I have to get them a bike." He muttered as he wiped his nose and mouth, and tried desperately to get the tiny rocks off and out of him. 

Elizabeth didn't look too happy with her father chasing Eliza and Bree. But if she revealed the truth, they would probably shun her away. That was the last thing she wanted. She still loved her family. But she now hated the idea of poaching. She had seen life in the animals they once thought were mindless beings. _'They aren't mindless. They are alive.'_ Elizabeth sat next to Debbie, but kept her face turned away. She had tears coming out of her eyes, and didn't want Debbie to see them lest she makes fun of her. The teenager failed to notice this. Her eyes were set towards the front. She was scanning the area for anything unusual. They had found tracks earlier and were following them. Elizabeth was going to try and trick them into going in another direction, but her family was too smart for that.__

_'What I wouldn't give for...'_ She didn't finish her thought. Her gaze fell upon her father. She could see, in the mirror, he had a look of the devil in his eyes. _'This isn't good.'_ She told herself. There had to be a way to save the others. But how? Elizabeth knew it wasn't going to be easy. She turned to Debbie. Debbie looked very frustrated. Elizabeth couldn't blame her so much. Her sister may have hated the sight of blood, but she always did enjoy a little action. Elizabeth looked at the time. The clock was a bit out of control, but it was probably at least noon or 2 in the afternoon. "I don't see them." Elizabeth muttered under her breath. 

"Oh, I know." Marianne said. Elizabeth jerked in surprise. _'She heard me?' _Marianne turned to the back, and smiled. The red-haired girl seemed to back up against her seat. The woman seemed surprised, but didn't show it. "But we'll find them. Don't you worry." She assured her daughter. Marianne thought that Elizabeth hated Eliza. She didn't know of what had truly happened, and Elizabeth never intended on telling her parents. They wouldn't understand. _'Or would they?'_ The child looked out of the window, and was hoping that Bree and Eliza had gotten as far away as humanly possible. _'Please be all right.'_ She slumped in her chair. This time her sister had noticed her. 

"What's wrong?" She asked the smaller girl. Elizabeth jumped in shock, and angrily glared at her older sister. "Don't scare me like that!!" 

Debbie was taken aback by her sister's outburst. _'She never acted like this before.'_ She then remembered what happened a few days ago. _'Okay, so she had acted like this before.'_ She defended herself by saying that she didn't need to be so jumpy. The only people in the vehicle were the family of poachers. Why be so jumpy about it? 

"I-I don't know." Elizabeth lied. _'I can't let her know the truth.'_

Debbie, however, seemed to persist. She seemed to know that her sibling was hiding something. "No...what's really wrong?" 

Elizabeth shook her head. 

"You sure nothing's wrong?" Her sister nodded her head. 

"Really, really sure?" 

Elizabeth couldn't take all this, and suddenly snapped at her big sister, "OF COURSE I AM SURE!!!" Suddenly the vehicle stopped, and everyone looked at Elizabeth. Nigel and Marianne blinked in shock, and Debbie backed away to her own seat. Elizabeth looked down shamefully, and said, "I'm sorry." The ride resumed, but with caution. 

Eliza and Bree kept running. They ran as fast as their feet could carry them. They finally stopped next to a river. Eliza looked around. The place looked horrifyingly familiar. She turned towards the water, and then looked up. Her eyes widened in horror. _'This is the same place where Sloan tried to kill me.'_ She seemed a bit shaken up, but she remembered that she was in an alternate universe. So this wasn't the exact same place, just the alternate. She looked at Bree. "Bree?" She asked lowly. 

The woman turned towards her. "What is it?" 

"Well, you just...never told me what happened here...in your dimension." 

Bree gasped, and looked away. _'For some reason, I don't want to burden her with this.'_ She looked back towards the girl. A look of expectancy was on the child's face. She really wanted to know what had happened. But would Bree herself be willing to tell what it was? "Why do you want to know?" She tried to sound reasonable, but was worried that she wounded heartless. 

The child looked away. She said, "Sorry, I just thought I should know about what happened here." 

Bree watched the child turn away from her, and stare into the water. The rapids made her reflection look as thought it was bending. _'I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell her...' _Bree did give in. "Okay, okay. I'll tell you. But you have to promise me one thing." 

Eliza turned around right away. "What is it?" Bree swallowed once. She looked a bit nervous. But why should she be so nervous about? There was nothing to be afraid of, or at least that's what Eliza's been told for the past few years. Only thing to fear is fear itself. 

The woman continued, "Don't tell Sloan I told you. He doesn't want to remember what had happened here." The child looked confused, but nodded. She promised she wouldn't tell Sloan. _'I hope I don't forget.'_ She smiled reassuringly at Bree. Bree smiled back, and began to tell the story. "Well, it's kind of long. But I'll make it short and quick, okay?" Eliza nodded, and waited for the explanation. Bree sighed, and finally began the tale. "Well, here's how it started..." 

Then the area shifted into a flashback. As Bree discussed what had happened, the scene shifts about 4-5 months in the past. It's still uncertain how long ago it was. The scene is the same place that Eliza and Bree were, but they were replaced by a ton of other people. The water seemed more violent than before. It was splashing against the sides. A herd of elephants were walking in. The electrified fence waited to strike. Well it didn't have a mind of its own, but it did sparkle a little as the elephants trampled towards it. A car was seen in the distance. It stopped at the edge of what appeared to be a steep cliff. It looked similar to the cliff that Eliza climbed down. Two people hurried out of the door, and watched in horror as the elephants drew closer. "This isn't good." The people were Sloan and Bree Blackburn. They had hurried as fast as they could, but didn't know what to do. 

Bree turned to her husband. "What can we do?" 

Sloan shook his head. He didn't know what to do. He still couldn't believe that he had fallen for Elizabeth's trick. He glared. _'I can't believe I fell for her act. All she wanted was the cat!' _He slammed his fist into the ground, causing Bree to jump. _'She lied to me.'_ "I can't believe that we actually believed Elizabeth!" 

The woman next to him looked at him sympathetically. She understood why Sloan was beating himself up for this. He thought it was his fault that Elizabeth Thornberry had gotten away with murder. Well, okay not murder, but she did try and kill the cheetah cub that they had rescued. Bree had previously tried to get Sloan to snap out of it, but he just wouldn't forgive himself. They almost lost another cheetah back there. She tried to calm him down. "It's okay, Sloan. People make mistakes. It's not your fault." But even that didn't seem to work. He turned to her. 

"Yes it is my fault!" Bree stepped back and looked out towards the edge. _'I know we have to save these elephants.' _But she didn't know how to convince Sloan. 

Angrily, she shouted, "Are you just going to sit here?!" 

Sloan jerked in surprise. "What?" 

"Are you just going to sit there and do nothing?" Sloan seemed to be at a loss for words. What should he say? And how should he say it? He didn't know. Well, not now anyway. He got up from the ground and looked out towards the moving elephants. _'They don't know the danger they are in.'_ He sighed. "What can I do?" 

"You can stop feeling sorry for yourself and save them!!" 

Up on another cliff, a man with red hair chuckled darkly. He held a rifle in his hands. It was Nigel's counterpart! He stood on the cliff, and watched as the elephants headed towards the trap with a grin on his face. The comvee stood behind him, and the rest of the family watched the elephants on the move. Well, not all of them. Debbie was inside. She was very weak of stomach, and didn't like seeing any type of killings. Elizabeth had fun calling her chicken and a scared cat, but Debbie didn't seem phased. Elizabeth held her own weapon, a different one from before which is a knife, in her hands. 

Marianne turned to her youngest daughter. "You did a great job tricking Sloan and Bree." Her voice was simple and dark. 

Elizabeth seemed proud of what she had done. "Now the bait has been set and it's time to spring the trap." She responded. An evil grin curved on her face as the elephants were almost in position. 

"It's almost time for the fireworks." Nigel said. _'Finally.'_ Elizabeth thought as she got up. She folded her arms back behind her, and looked coldly at the animals. _'Your time has come.'_ She mentally sneered. 

Sloan looked out at the scene. He sensed someone's presence, and looked towards one direction, probably north. He could see the outline of Nigel Thornberry. Eyes wide, he turned towards Bree and gently shook her. She swerved around and asked what was the matter, and Sloan said, "Nigel! He's over there!" He pointed towards another cliff. Bree brought both her hands to her mouth. They were so close to the enemy. _'___

_We need to stop them!'_ Bree was becoming desperate, and looked towards the elephants. "How can we stop those animals?" She pointed towards them, and Sloan tried to think of a plan. 

"There's got to be a way to..." He couldn't find a way. Well, he couldn't think of one. His eyes were still locked on Nigel. That man had been responsible for the slaughter of countless animals worldwide. _'I can't let him get away with this.'_ Sloan knew his time was almost up. He looked at the elephants again, and started to climb down the hill. 

Bree looked horrified, and shouted, "Come back! You'll get trampled!" The man gripped on the rocks tightly. A few of them started to roll down the sides. 

"Don't worry!" He shouted at his wife. "I'll be fine!" He finally gotten low enough that he could just jump down. He landed on his feet, and then hands. He picked himself up, and tried to think of what to do next. _'Now what?'_ He though. He had gotten down from the hill, but now what was he going to do? He knew he couldn't just stand there and watch this happen. He had to do something! Without thinking, he started to run towards the elephants despite Bree's pleas. 

Bree could only watch helplessly as her husband disappeared in the large herd of elephants. _'I hope he knows what he's doing.' _She sat down and watched worriedly. "I wish there was something I could do...something.....anything." But she could not think of anything. She just sat down, and watched. She let out a long sigh. She was alone on this cliff. She could feel the breeze strike the back of her head. She looked up towards the skies, and then back down the ground. _'If only I had realized Elizabeth's trick. If only I knew what she was really after. If only...'_ But what was the use? There was no way she could have known. Elizabeth was too tricky. "Elizabeth was a sly one, yes." She had to admit. 

"Oh, I was, wasn't I?" An icy voice said from behind her, chilling her back to the spine. The voice was so cold it could freeze water if visible. She knew who it was. She slowly turned around. She gasped. It was Elizabeth Thornberry, and she was pointed her rifle at her! Bree backed up towards the edge of the cliff. With one step, a tiny amount of it broke away and fell down. Bree heard the sounds of the tiny rocks clashing towards the bottom, and could see the evil smirk on Elizabeth's face. "You want to join those rocks?" She asked evilly, and she took a step forward. 

Bree took a step back, but remained in her same position. She wasn't going down that easily. "What do you want?" 

Elizabeth slowly shook her head. "You don't get it, do you?" She looked up. "Face it, Bree. You've lost." The evil grin returned to her face. 

Bree couldn't stand it for much longer. She gritted her teeth, and stepped forward one step. She said, "Sloan and I won't give up!" 

Laughter...dark laughter rang through the area. Elizabeth was laughing...laughing because she thought the woman's bravery was futile. _'What a pathetic fool!'_ She picked up something from her pocket. Bree narrowed her eyes to get a better look. The object was thin and black. She shook in fear when she quickly realized what it was. _'It's a bullet.'_ She watched in terror as the girl placed the bullet into the rifle, and positioned it towards Bree. "I'm sorry, but I have to do this." The child leveled it up to Bree's head, and closed one eye. Her fingers went for the trigger, and started to pull it tighter. Bree didn't know what else to do. In a matter of seconds, she would die. She quickly looked towards the ground below her. She knew she didn't have much of a choice. Down was her only way out of this one. She took in a huge breath, turned, and jumped over the edge as fast as she could. Elizabeth fired the rifle, and it barely grazed the tip of Bree's shoes. The girl ran over to the edge and watched emotionlessly as the woman fell down. 

Elizabeth Thornberry turned and walked away. She assumed that Bree would never survive the fall. _'That's one down. One more to go!'_ She walked towards a sloop down to the ground, which was located near the part of the cliff that Bree had jumped off of. _'Now for Sloan...'_

"Whoa!" Sloan yelled in shock as he dodged another elephant's foot. He fell to the ground, and he looked towards his back. A large imprint was clearly seen carved into the ground in the same spot where he had been standing._ 'This isn't going to be easy.'_ He looked at the elephants, and tried to wave his arms over his head. "GET BACK!!" He shouted. But elephants don't understand human language. How was he going to get them to understand him? There was only one thing he could try. He just didn't know if it would work or not. He ran towards one of the elephants, and grabbed its tail.__

_'I can't believe I'm going to do this.' _He mentally feared as he climbed up on the elephant. It was a great struggle. Getting on a wild horse is easier than this. Once he was sitting on the elephant, he scooted himself towards the base of the neck. He remembered in a training class that when riding an elephant, if you gently hit them in the back of the head a certain way, they'll go in a desired direction. _'I hope they weren't wrong...'_ He got into position, and lifted his foot. He gulped, hoping that he wouldn't get this wrong. He was about to make his move when the fireworks started to explode! The elephants suddenly reared up in fear. Full of panic, they started to charge towards the fence, and Sloan didn't think he could react in time to save them. 

"Ooo..." Someone moaned in pain. Bree had fallen almost 30 ft to the ground. It was quite a drop. She had hit a couple of small rocks jetting out and hit a bush, which all helped to break her fall. "What happened?" She rubbed her head. That was quite some drop she had there. She slowly shook her head, and rubbed her forehead. She had hit her head during the fall, and she noticed she had a few cuts and bruises. Parts of her clothes were torn. She knew, of course, why. She looked up towards the top of the cliff. She looked to see if Elizabeth was still up there. To her shock, she wasn't. _'She must've moved down...If she thought I was dead, then that means...oh no!'_

She tried to stand up, but screamed in pain. She fell back down. She looked at her leg, and saw the problem. Her leg had been broken in the fall. _'This isn't good.'_ If Elizabeth or any of the other Thornberrys saw her, they would and could kill her right on the stop, and she wouldn't even be able to run for it. But it wasn't that she was worried about. She couldn't warn Sloan that Elizabeth was after him most likely. He was too busy trying to save the elephants. Bree sat herself down, and hoped for a miracle. 

Sloan hung on for dear life. The elephants charged full throttle as the fence seemed to get shakingly closer. He never felt more afraid in his life. He didn't know what to do now. The electrical fence could kill 1,000 elephants! If he got hit...he didn't want to think about it. _'There just has to be a way to stop these guys.'_ He got himself ready, and gently kicked the elephant behind the head. _'This elephant is the leader. If I can get her to turn, the others will follow.'_ His gentle kick did its intended purpose, and the female elephant suddenly stopped and shifted to the left. Shocked, the other elephants stopped as well, and turned around so that they were behind the leader elephant. _'It worked...'_

Sloan gently kicked the elephant's head again, and this time it had turned all the way around and started walking in the same path that it had come. The other elephants followed as well. There were no more fireworks, so they couldn't be startled, and even if they were, they'd run in that same direction. Sloan started to calm down as the elephants seemed to be out of danger. But then he remembered about the Thornberrys, and quickly turned his head towards them. They were all gathered on the same cliff, and were witnessing what was going on. _'Oh man...'_ Sloan whimpered in fear of what would happen next. 

"WHAT?!" Nigel screamed in rage. Below them, the elephants were so close to being theirs, but Sloan had stopped that! The family glared in rage as they saw Sloan riding the lead elephant. 

Marianne snarled, "I can't believe it! He ruined it all!" She formed fists with both her hands, and punched them together. 

"I'd like to tear him apart!" Debbie had gotten out to see what was going on, and was just as appalled as the rest of them. 

Elizabeth was holding her rifle with her, and stepped in front of her family. "I'll get him." She said darkly. Her rifle leveled up to the man, and she pulled the trigger. The bullet shot out faster than lightning. Sloan heard the sounds of a gunshot, and immediately moved back. Something black quickly sailed past him, and barely missed grazing him. He was now on to the Thornberrys, and climbed down off the elephants. It would be harder to shoot him in the mob of elephants. Elizabeth felt rage start to overtake her, and she kept firing shots down. She wasn't aiming at the elephants, but she did snicker as a couple of elephants were indeed hit by the bullets. Sloan screamed as he tried to outrun the falling animals. He looked around frantically, and saw something that might help him. 

Out there, lying on the ground, was his helicopter. The black helicopter seemed to be in great shape, too. Sloan rushed over to it, and hopped inside. _'This should help me.'_ He hoped that it would anyway. He checked out the controls. They were still in good shape. He turned the helicopter on, and sat down in the pilot's seat. He pulled the lever up and down, as the machine started to rise into the air. _'That training in the Air Force paid off.'_ Sloan smiled as he rose about 20 feet and more off the ground. The Thornberrys' faces registered in shock as they watched Sloan ride in the helicopter. They backed up towards their comvee. The naturalist was headed straight for them! 

Debbie screamed as she dove down to dodge Sloan. Nigel and Marianne looked at her with worry, then looked at Sloan with hatred. "We've got to get that, that thing down!" Nigel pointed at the helicopter. It was ruining their plans! 

Elizabeth smiled. She was a great archer. She didn't always miss, but it was usually unlikely she did miss anything. "I will get him down." She took her rifle, and aimed at the helicopter. She didn't aim for the pilot, but rather aimed at the part connecting the propeller to the top of the machine. She closed one eye, and gave a shot. This time, the bullet hit its intended target, and the wing got damaged. Sloan screamed in horror as the propeller stalled and the helicopter started to plummet down the rocky surface below him. The Thornberrys laughed scornfully as Sloan fell down. 

Luckily, Bree had noticed what had just happened. She still couldn't pick herself up, but she did get an elephant's attention. The big creature walked over to see what was wrong, and lowered its trunk down and nudged Bree. The woman used the elephant's truck to support herself. Somehow, it knew what she wanted, and lifted the woman up, and gently placed her on its back. _'I think it wants me to ride it.'_ She thought in wonder. She shook herself. She remembered what had happened to Sloan. She looked at the elephant, and pointed towards the falling helicopter. 

"There! Catch that thing!" She shouted. She hoped the elephant understood what she wanted, and the animal started to charge forward. _'I think she does.'_ The elephant moved faster than anyone would have guessed elephants could move. She hung on as the animal drew closer and closer to the falling machine. The elephant outstretched its long trunk and wrapped it around the tail of the helicopter. It used all its strength to gently lower it to the ground, and it lightly crashed on the surface. Bree jumped down to the ground. She collapsed to her knees immediately, and had forgotten that one of her legs was broken. She lifted herself up, and screamed out in horror, "SLOAN!!!" Wide eyes locked on the helicopter, and Bree expected the worst. 

For several moments, nothing happened. Bree closed her eyes in sadness. Thinking Sloan was a goner, she started to cry. "No...it can't be..." She whispered to herself. She brought her knees to her chest and continued to cry. A few rocks rumbled down from where the machine had landed. She lifted up her head and looked towards the black helicopter. A few more rocks came off and suddenly part of the area started to shift. Tears stopped flowing, and she smiled in anticipation. Sure enough, a hand poked out, and clung onto a rock. 

"Sloan!" She screamed in joy. She wanted to run over and help him, but she couldn't. She rubbed her broken leg, and winced in pain as she only lightly touched it. She continued to watch, and hope. Sloan finally got out. He was a bit cut up and hurt, but he wasn't too bad off. He survived the fall, and that's all Bree really wanted. She picked herself up, and used the elephant's trunk to support herself. Sloan walked out of the pile, and his walking was a bit shaky. It wasn't a surprise to Bree. It was a bit of a shock to the body to fall like that. He saw Bree, and ran over to her. 

"Bree!" He stopped in front of her, and he saw the large bruise on her leg. "What happened to you?" 

"Elizabeth tried to kill me, so I jumped off the cliff." 

"YOU DID WHAT?!" 

Bree held her hands out in defense. "Let's worry not about that." She said. She pointed towards the angered Thornberry family. "Let's worry about them!" Sloan growled, and nodded. 

On the cliff, the Thornberrys weren't too happy about all that had happened. They planned for years on this trap, and it was foolproof! They were hoping to get rich off of this operation. They did get a few elephants down, but not enough. Nigel had gotten their tusks already. He had gotten them while Sloan was helping Bree up and walked towards their vehicle. Since Bree was hurt, it would take quite sometime to get back up the hill. Nigel carried the heavy tusks up. He was stronger than most took him granted for. He set them in the comvee, and he hopped in the driver's seat. "Come on, everyone! We have to go now!" 

Elizabeth, Debbie, and Marianne nodded promptly, and rushed inside the comvee. Sloan and Bree had gotten into their vehicle and were coming their way. Nigel pushed the pedal to the metal, and was off faster than a rabbit could hop. Sloan pushed the break pedal. The comvee had gotten away, and they were headed straight for the cliff! The vehicle skidded towards the side, and nearly went over the edge. It stopped, but just barely. 

Sloan panted, and became angry with himself. Bree looked at him worriedly. "Don't worry. At least we saved most of the elephants." She scanned the area. The elephants were safe indeed. 

Sloan smiled, "Yeah, at least there's that." The couple watched the sunset, and watched the magnificent animals grazing the area. And then the eclipse occurred... 

Then the flashback sequence ended. The world warped back to present time. Eliza's eyes were wide with shock. She had no idea that Elizabeth was that cold at one time. She didn't think she was so bad now, but the thought of Elizabeth actually doing all that...it just sickened her! She looked at Bree with sympathy, and looked towards the ground. "Oh, Bree...I didn't know!" 

Bree looked at her with understanding in her eyes. She knew that Eliza couldn't have known. She felt guilty with burdening her with something that she would feel was from a nightmare. She placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, reassuring her. "It's okay." She said comfortably. 

The child looked up, and smiled weakly. "Yeah..." The child got to her feet, but then heard something in the distance. She quickly shifted her head towards one direction. 

"Something's wrong." She said simply, and then the ground shook. Her eyes widen as the ground split again. 

"No!" Bree screamed in terror. She jolted up. She knew what was about to happen. The comvee suddenly appeared, and the drivers looked just as angry as before. Eliza squinted, and noticed that Elizabeth was in there. She was looking out of the window, and gave her and Bree a quick look of sympathy. The dark girl then lowered back down in her seat, too scared to watch what was going to happen. Nigel pulled the lever, and the claw lifted up. It raised above Bree and Eliza. 


	7. Different And The Same

"It's time to pay!" Marianne's voice could be heard shouting from inside the comvee. 

Debbie had said something, too. "Prepare to eat metal, animal lovers!" She shouted mockingly. Nigel smirked ominously as he pulled the lever back even more, and the claw reached down at lightning speed. The two people jumped out of the way, and their wake was left a huge hole. It looked to be at least 10 ft down. 

Eliza and Bree looked down that hole with fright, and looked up. The claw raised again, and they dodged again. "We have to get out of here!" They started to run along the side of the river. They knew that if they fell in, they probably wouldn't make it. Eliza thought that the Shaman would come, but if Elizabeth was a poacher, then the Shaman of this dimension was probably...She was too scared to think about that. She and Bree just kept running. The comvee started to pick up speed. Soon the comvee was so close to them that all the claw had to do was swipe down and both of them would have been hit. Nigel smiled as he pushed the lever, and the claw swooped down. Eliza tripped, and she looked up. The claw drew closer. 

Bree stopped and saw that Eliza was in danger. "ELIZA!" Eliza looked up, and screamed in terror. 

The steel claw closed in. It gripped onto Eliza's small body, and lifted her high above the ground. 

Bree backed up, and watched in fear as the girl was lifted as high as the machine could lift her. "Eliza!" She screamed again, but knew there was nothing she could do to help the child. The claw slightly tightened its grip on the girl, and Eliza closed her eyes tightly and let out another loud scream. Her arms were pinned on her side, and the claw was putting pressure on her chest. She could hardly breathe. Nigel laughed at her pain, and continued to add more pressure on her. _'I don't know how much more of this I can take!' _Eliza could feel her chest being crushed around her. The darkness was going to overtake her sooner or later, so she wouldn't be in pain forever. She opened up one eye, and saw only the claw around her. She didn't notice anyone else. 

Nigel was about the give the final blow when something gold and white leaped past him. "What was that?" The flash leapt up towards the top of the claw, and gripped onto the thing. 

**_If you leap awake_**   
**_In the mirror of a bad dream_**   
**_And for a fraction of a second_**   
**_You can't remember where you are_****__**

**_Just open your window_**   
**_And follow your memory upstream_**   
**_To the meadow and the mountain_**   
**_Where we counted every falling star_**

"It's a swift fox!" Marianne shouted in shock. They watched in wonder as the animal gripped a hold of the claw, and was able to free the girl inside it. Cradling the girl in its mouth, it leapt down onto the ground, and settled the child on the ground. 

"What was that?" Debbie wondered, but then noticed something. "Hey! That thing has Elizabeth's talisman!" She pointed at the blue-ribbon red talisman that was worn around the fox's neck. Red hair swayed on the top of its head. Debbie turned around, and was surprised to see that Elizabeth wasn't there. "Elizabeth's not here!" 

Nigel looked at her with horror registered in his mind. There was only one thing that he could think of. There was just one thing that could've happened. _'That fox...!'_ He turned around and, filled with rage, looked at the fox. _'That fox ate my daughter!'_ Well that was impossible since no fox could each that much or that fast, but the evil Nigel didn't know that. The only thing on his mind was revenge. The claw swooped down, and the fox leapt out of the way. The animal looked up, and knew it was in danger. Bree held Eliza up, and they watched helplessly as the fox kept dodging the claw. 

**_I believe the light that shines on you_**   
**_Will shine on you forever...forever_**   
**_And though I can't guarantee_**   
**_There's nothing scary hiding under your bed_****__**

**_I'm gonna stand guard like_**   
**_A postcard of a Golden Retriever_**   
**_And never leave until I leave you_**   
**_With a sweet dream in your head_**

Nigel growled in frustration. No matter how fast he moved the claw, the swift fox was too fast for him, and he missed each time. _'No wonder they call it the swift fox.'_ He said to himself. He struck the ground with the claw again. He glared at the fox as it did a backflip and landed on its feet. Then another thought occurred to him. The fox had saved the child's life. What would happen if he were to attack Bree and Eliza? _'It's worth a try.'_ He shifted the claw in a different direction. The swift fox stopped moving, and knew what was going to happen. She let out a roar, and leapt towards the direction of the claw. The plan was working just as Nigel had hoped it would! 

The claw swooped in closer and closer. He watched in anticipation. Bree and Eliza screamed in fright, and closed their eyes. They waited for the blow, but it never came. Instead, they heard a loud scream. A scream of an animal in pain let loose through the forest. They could hear Nigel's voice laughing in triumph. _'If they didn't hit us, then that means they hit Elizabeth!'_

"No..." Eliza whispered. She picked herself up, and looked up. The claw didn't close down, but it struck the swift fox into the ground. It was down on its back, mouth wide open and tongue hanging out. 

Nigel, Marianne, and Debbie roared in victory. "You got it!" 

"Way to go, Nigel!" Marianne yelled in excitement. 

The man nodded to them, and turned back towards the outside ground. The poacher got out his mic. "You saw what we did to your fox friend. Now we're gonna...what?" Something was going on. Something was happening. Nigel looked towards the fox. The swift fox began to glow brightly. The light illuminated the area. 

As everyone stared in astonishment, the fox began to change shape. The tail shrunk back. Clothes appeared. The mouth shortened and the ears shortened. The nose became less and less black. The fur disappeared, and the red hair shifted into a ponytail. The claws disappeared. Finally the feet shortened up. When the glowing died down, on the floor lay not a fox, but a girl. It was Elizabeth. She lied there, battered and bruised. She had her eyes closed, and was bleeding from several cuts. Her breathing came in short and raspy. Everyone was silent on the field. No one could move a muscle. Everyone was in a state of shock. All that was heard was the breeze in the wind. 

Eliza felt tears come to her eyes again. "Elizabeth." She whispered, and hugged Bree tightly. She didn't want to see this. 

**_I'm gonna watch you shine_**   
**_Gonna watch you grow_**   
**_Gonna paint the sign_**   
**_So you'll always know_****__**

**_As long as one and one is two, whoo_**   
**_There could never be a father_**   
**_Who loved his daughter_**   
**_More than I love you_**

Nigel's eyes opened up in shock. Debbie and Marianne were no less surprise. The poachers climbed out of the comvee, and looked ahead. They didn't want to believe it. It just couldn't be true! But it was true. They knew it. They may have caused the death of one of their own! Nigel shook his head in denial. 

"No...no..NO!!!" 

He screamed in agony, and rushed towards his daughter. He bent down, and gently shook her. She moaned in pain, and opened up her eyes. She looked up at her father, and smiled gently. 

"D-Daddy..." She whispered. This word made her father's blood run cold. She had never called him that since she was a child. He tried to smile, but the thought of losing her was just too much to bear. 

"Why? Why did you do it?" He held her up against him. "Why did you risk your life to save them?" He glared angrily at Bree and Eliza, but his gaze softened as he realized that they were crying for Elizabeth, too. He turned back to his injured daughter, and could see, out of the corner of his eye, Debbie holding onto Marianne. 

Elizabeth coughed weakly. "They..." She gulped. "They aren't the real enemies. We are." Nigel was surprised at this. 

**_Trust your intuition_**   
**_It's just like going fishing_**   
**_You cast your line_**   
**_And hope you get a bite_****__**

**_But you don't need to waste your time_**   
**_Worrying about the marketplace_**   
**_Try to help the human race_**   
**_Struggling to survive its harshest night_**

"What do you mean?" He asked in wonder. 

Elizabeth looked up at him, and then back towards the ground. Her energy was starting to leave her, and fast. "Look around us. Is it really worth it?" 

Nigel blinked, and started to take a good look around him. He could see the birds flying around, and saw a couple of animals scurry by. He looked confused, and turned to his daughter. 

"Look at them. They are alive...like we are." 

Nigel narrowed his eyes, and locked them on one animal that was just sitting there. He could tell what it was, but didn't take his gaze off of it. He still couldn't see it. 

"I don't see what you mean." He stroked Elizabeth's hair gently. She was growing paler and weaker. 

She lifted a weak finger up, and pointed in the direction of the animal. "Look...into its eyes..." She said, and then said no more. Nigel looked closer. He tried to see what his daughter wanted him to see. He still couldn't see anything at first, but then he looked even closer. 

"I see!" There was a spark of life in the animal's eyes. It was bright, just as bright as human eyes. The animal scurried off into the distance. Nigel, for the first time, smiled warmly at an animal. He turned to his daughter. He understood faster than she did, and he wanted to tell her that he now understood. But he was horrified by what he was seeing. 

**_I'm gonna watch you shine_**   
**_Gonna watch you grow_**   
**_Gonna paint the sign_**   
**_So you'll always know_****__**

**_As long as one and one is two, whoo_**   
**_There could never be a father_**   
**_Who loved his daughter_**   
**_More than I love you_**

Elizabeth had her eyes closed. Her mouth was still open, and her tongue hung out, and was drying up due to the exposure to the sun. Her head lolled to the side, and her body was starting to stiffen up. Her skin was feeling cooler and cooler by the minute. Nigel shook his head in denial. "No, Elizabeth!" He screamed, and held his daughter as close to him as humanly possible. His tears fell on her unmoving face, and the ground. It soaked into the ground, turning it dark brown. Bree felt pain hit her heart harder than anything could have hit her. Elizabeth had saved them, but may have lost her own life in the process. Eliza continued to cry in shame, and the other Thornberrys were busy trying to control their emotions. Eliza finally had the courage to turn her head towards the poacher, and looked at her counterpart. 

"Elizabeth...you didn't have to die...to save me." She couldn't take it anymore. She broke down sobbing. '_I'll never forget you.' _Eliza reminded herself. For the next few minutes, all the sounds that were made were the sounds of mourning. Those minutes seemed like an eternity to everyone there. _'I just wish there was something I could do to help you.'_ Nigel thought as he continued to cry more. 

**_I'm gonna watch you shine_**   
**_Gonna watch you grow_**   
**_Gonna paint the sign_**   
**_So you'll always know_****__**

**_As long as one and one is two, whoo_**   
**_There could never be a father_**   
**_Who loved his daughter_**   
**_More than I love you_**

Then they heard the sound of rumbling. Everyone shifted their misted gaze towards the source of the sound. It was coming from a white vehicle which was heading in their direction. Eliza stood up and got a better look at the approaching vehicle. She put her hand over her eyes, and could barely make out one of the drivers as Sloan. The person next to him looked a bit like Kip. She ran from the group and waved her arms out to bring attention towards her. 

Sloan jerked forward instantly. "It's Eliza! Stop!" Kip slammed on the breaks, and the car came to a squeaky halt. Smoke rose from the car as Sloan stepped out of it, and ran towards them. "Bree! What happened?" Bree looked at him, and he gasped. Tears were streaming down her face. "What's the matter?" 

She looked to the ground. She couldn't say anything at all, except, "She saved us." Her finger waveringly pointed towards the small child in the poacher's arms. 

Sloan looked up, and narrowed his eyes. "Oh, _she_ saved your life?" He asked with some doubt in his voice. Kip had gotten out, and so did Biederman. 

Biederman shook his head in denial. "It doesn't seem likely." 

The raven-haired woman protested, "But it's true." She turned back to the injured girl, and looked at her sadly. The other poachers didn't even seem to care that their enemies were present. 

**_I love you..._**

Sloan cocked an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you actually feel sorry about them?" He watched the scene with some disgust on his mind. "They don't deserve to live. You know that." Bree shot a quick sharp glare at him. He backed up in surprise. "What? You know it's true." 

Bree shook her head, and Eliza said, "It's not true. You just don't know the whole picture." She glared at Sloan as she did with the evil version of him, and turned back to the poachers. She looked at Elizabeth, and couldn't help to be sorry for her. She did save their lives after all. "She saved us. Would someone dangerous do that?" She asked Sloan in a serious tone. 

Sloan seemed to be at a loss of words. _'Why does she think that?'_ He looked at the poachers, and then at Eliza. Kip stepped up. 

"Why should we help them? They wouldn't help us." 

Biederman nodded. "Yeah." Eliza's eyes widened a bit. But no one knew if that was for surprise or for something else. The 12-year-old let out an angst sigh. She wanted to do something for Elizabeth, but she knew there was nothing she could have done to prevent it. _'She wanted it this way.'_ She then remembered that Kip was still waiting for an answer. 

She smiled. "If we act like them, we become them." She had heard this phrase off a TV show once. It didn't really have an affect on that, and didn't know how it would work in real life. She watched, and could see that Kip was just as surprised as Sloan was with her response. 

Sloan was still trying to figure this all out. He did know that Eliza was on their side. She hated poachers. But why was she standing up for them? These people already have the death sentence put on them, not only for poaching, but for murder as well. _'I don't understand it. Why is she doing this?'_ Eliza had positioned herself between the poachers and the police. She wouldn't budge. Bree stood next to her, the same look on her face. 

Sloan Blackburn stepped forward. "Eliza, be reasonable." 

She moved her head from side to side, and replied, "No you be reasonable. This has to stop!" Sloan blinked in astonishment. Eliza really wasn't going to give up so easily. He narrowed his eyes as frustration took over. They have gotten so close to finally capturing the Thornberrys, and now the only thing standing in the way is a little girl. 

He growled, "Stay out of this!!" The girl did not stay out of it, and he knew that. _'It's going to take more than words to make her see her error.' _The girl never changed her gaze from Elizabeth's prone body. "Stay out if this." He bluntly repeated, and formed a fist with his hands, shaking. He gestured for her to move, but she remained in her spot. He turned to Bree. 

She said, "Eliza's right. Enough." Now this was something no one thought they'd see. Eliza could sense that things were going downhill with Sloan, so she made another response. 

"To have a heart means you feel pain for others, even if they are your worst enemy." Sloan's eyes opened all the way at this response. Kip and Biederman didn't seem as surprised, but they did gasp. Eliza continued, "We are one." Once again, she got that from a movie she had watched sometime. No, she heard of it, but never watched it. She couldn't remember the title, though. _'It just might work.'_ She watched Sloan, Kip, and Biederman. They looked at each other, and then looked at the poachers. Unlike Kip and Biederman, Sloan did know what Eliza meant by the term we are one, but he didn't really believe it would apply to the poachers. He thought they weren't worthy of any type of friendship. He believed that was true. But now he was starting to rethink a little bit. 

Perhaps he was wrong about them. Okay, so he was right about them for some part, but now that he thought about it, he never really saw Nigel display such emotion until know. He heard Eliza's voice saying, "They are us, and we are them. Can you see any real differences?" 

Sloan squinted his eyes as he looked harder at the group. Nigel seemed to be...crying? _'That's something I never seen.'_ The poachers didn't seem as intimidating before. The look in their eyes was the same look someone would give if they were in emotional pain. _'She's right...'_ Sloan could see what Eliza had been trying to tell him. There weren't any real differences between him and the poachers. He looked at Eliza, and gave her a smile of understanding. 

Kip and Biederman both stared and blinked in surprise. They didn't know what was going on just yet. Sloan turned to them. "Kip and Biederman. Get the girl to the local hospital." 

The poachers, however, were slightly confused as to why they were helping them. Debbie rose to her feet and dried her eyes before she made a question. "Why?" She turned to Eliza. "Why would you want to help us...after all we did to you?" 

Eliza smiled briefly, and clasped her hands together. She replied, "I once heard somewhere that if you treat your enemies the same why you think they treat you, then you're no better than they are." Debbie blinked. "That, and Elizabeth saved my life, so I was returning the favor." 

Debbie laughed a bit. "I never would have guessed that my sister could turn into animals." 

"You don't know the half of it..." 

"What was that?" 

"Oh, nothing." Eliza lied. _'I can't tell them.'_

She turned to see Kip placing Elizabeth into the car. He got in with Biederman. "We'll get her to the hospital. Don't you worry." He was about to start the car, but then remembered something. "But once she's better, she and her family are going to be brought to the Court Room. You got it?" Marianne and Nigel looked at each other nervously. Their time had come. Then they turned back and gave a quick nod. They didn't have a choice. "Good." Kip said as he turned on the vehicle, and started to go off. 

Then, in Eliza's dimension, the comvee had stopped in front of the Poacher Guild, the place where Adam had said he saw Sloan and Bree Blackburn go into. _'I can just imagine why they call it that.'_ Debbie mumbled mentally to herself. The comvee was locked, and Darwin and Donnie were inside. Debbie knew that they wanted to find Eliza just as much as she did, but they couldn't be in the Poacher Guild. If Sloan or Bree saw them, they'd be recognize immediately. But then again, they saw her, too. She and her parents walked up to the door. The outside handle was carved into the shape of a lion's face. Debbie shuddered, not wanting to know if that was real lion's tooth that was used to make it. Nigel slowly opened up the door. Inside there are several poachers, none of which seemed to be surprised by Nigel Thornberry's presence. It was like they didn't care who came in and who came out.__

_'This is odd.'_ He thought. Marianne scanned the area. She looked for Sloan and Bree. She finally spotted them. They were sitting at a round table, talking and laughing together. 

"There they are." She grabbed Nigel and showed him where the two poachers were. 

"Right." Nigel said. He then told Debbie, "Deborah, you stay here, okay?" 

"But dad...!" "Do as your father says, Debbie." The teenager growled, and abided reluctantly. Nigel and Marianne walked towards the poachers, but with extreme caution. 

Bree noticed someone walking towards their table. "Hey, Sloan? Isn't that...?" Sloan raised his head to look over, and saw what his wife had spotted. 

"Yes, it's that family of Eliza's again." He growled dangerously. _'What could they want again?'_ He gripped his knife he was holding tightly in his hands, but didn't raise it up in a threatening posture. They could see that it was the same knife that Sloan had used to threaten Eliza. Nigel and Marianne stopped a few inches from the table. Both had a wary look on their faces. 

Sloan narrowed his eyes. "What do you want again?" His voice sounded as angry as hornets. 

Nigel fumbled around with his fingers. "Well, you see...we...I...That is we....oh..." He couldn't get a clear word out. 

Bree smacked her face with her hand. "Oh, brother...." She seemed just as annoyed as Sloan. "Can you answer the question simply?" 

The female naturalist stepped up, "Sorry about my husband. He's a bit nervous." She was nervous, too. 

The male poacher cocked an eyebrow. "So I see. So why did you come?" 

Marianne gulped nervously. "We received word from a stranger that you do know what happened to Eliza." That was a big mistake. 

Sloan's eyes turned to fury, and Bree growled, "How did you know?" This confirmed it. They were responsible. Sloan was shaking in anger, and Nigel and Marianne were moving back in fear. _'How did they know?'_

Sloan stood out of his seat, and his angry gaze never left Nigel's eyes. Nigel quickly said, "We were only told. We-we don't even know the person who..." 

But he was cut off. Sloan brought up his knife, and swung upward. The knifepoint stopped only millimeters from Nigel's throat. "NIGEL!" Marianne yelled. She ran over to try and help her husband, but Bree stood up and pulled out a rifle. Marianne screamed and stopped. She backed up a little as Bree looked like she was taking aim at her. 

Sloan glared at Nigel. "And what makes you think we'll help you?" He hissed. Nigel smiled weakly. 

"We didn't think you would...We just wanted to know..." 

The knife was thrusted closer to him, and he had to jump back to avoid getting cut. "To know what?!" The angry poacher asked. 

"To know if it was true if you sent Eliza to...another dimension." He closed his eyes tightly and waited for an impact. But nothing came. He opened up his eyes and looked at Sloan. Sloan looked rather shocked. He lowered his knife to the ground. He signaled to Bree to lower her weapon. She did so, and Marianne ran back to her husband. Bree kept a wary eye on them. Sloan smiled hideously, and Debbie, who was watching from a distance, knew this wasn't good news. 

"Yes, I did send her to another dimension." This answer was enough. Now they knew the truth. 

Debbie started to move forward. "You....did that? Why?" 

Sharp eyes swifted towards her, and suddenly she felt like she couldn't move. It was like her own heart was pierced by some evil force. She stared with terror on her mind as Sloan slowly moved towards her. "Why you ask?" He asked dimly. She gritted her teeth and her eyes were filled with fear. She moved back as Sloan was starting to get too close. "Why? WHY?! Because no one messes up my plans and gets away with it!!" 

Debbie's expression changed from fear to angry. She moved up a little, but less than a step. "What? You were the one who tried to kill thousands of elephants!" She pointed an accusing finger at the man, who just chuckled. 

"I was merely making profit." Now it was Nigel's turn to get angry. 

"How can you possibly be happy about making profit when you're destroying one of Earth's most precious animals?!" He screamed. Marianne gasped. _'I never seen Nigel like this. No wait I have...I think.'_ She scratched her head in confusion, but knew she couldn't take her eyes off of Bree. She still had that gun loaded and ready to fire. 

Sloan seemed to laugh at Nigel's remark. "Pitiful fool. You don't even realize it, do you?" Nigel's expression softened, but just a little. "These creatures are inferior to us." Sloan said evilly. "We are their masters. They serve us." 

Shaking his head, Nigel commented, "You couldn't be more wrong, Blackburn." Then, the poacher and the naturalist looked at each other eye to eye. 

Sloan's dark eyes narrowed dangerously low. "How would you know?" 

Nigel was about to answer when Marianne gently nudged him. "Come on, Nigel. It's obvious they aren't gonna help." 

Nigel slowly lowered his gaze. "You're right." He muttered, but he couldn't help but still feel angry towards the poachers. _'They're the only ones who can help us. The problem is they won't help.'_

Bree watched the three go, and started to think about something. _'They're not bad.'_ She smiled weakly. Sloan sat back down, and started to read something. He noticed Bree was still standing up. 

"Bree?" She looked at him almost half-heartedly. "What's wrong?" 

She took a deep breath and let it out. "Maybe we should help them. If we don't, we'll be in more trouble than we already are." 

"WHAT? Are you crazy?! Eliza's the one who got us arrested! Why should we help here?!" He screamed in Bree's face. He demanded to know why she wanted to help their enemy. There was a long silence. The two people stared at each other from opposing ends. 

Bree seemed to be at a loss for words, but finally figured out just what to say. "Someone has to...don't they?" 

Sloan's eyes snapped open. "You really want to help them, don't you?" He asked lowly. She blinked in surprise by his tone, but nodded. She knew that he might do something rash if he found out that she wanted to help, yet she took that risk. Sloan, however, really didn't know what to think about all this._ 'What should I do?'_ But the look on Bree's face answered his question for him. He looked towards the entrance, and saw that the Thornberrys had left. "Let's go after them." 

Debbie grumbled angrily as she stomped into the comvee. Her parents didn't enter the same way, but it was clear that they were just as mad as she was. _'He just laughed at us.'_ She felt like slamming her fist through a brick wall. If looks could kill, hers could end life as everyone knew it. 

Marianne wasn't too happy about leaving, either, without information on how to save Eliza. "I guess we'll have to try and get her ourselves." Nigel nodded to his wife, and made a quick angry glare at the Poacher Guild. _'Sloan will pay.'_ He angrily thought. The comvee started to move. They were going to leave when they heard someone shouting at them. _'What?'_ Marianne thought as she slammed the breaks on quickly. 

Nigel quickly opened up the door. "What is it?" The last person in the world he would expect was standing there, hands behind his back. A stern look was on his face. The naturalist gasped, "SLOAN?!" The poacher smiled, and Bree walked up. 

Marianne was noticing what was going on. "Bree? What's going on?" 

"Sloan has something to tell you." The female poacher said simply, and gestured to her husband. He didn't look happy. Then again he never really looked happy. 

He growled, but finally gave in. "We'll help you." The naturalist gaped at the poachers, and looked at each other. For once in this dimension, poacher and naturalist were at eye to eye with each other, even though it was reluctant. 

"You'll...help us? Why?" Nigel questioned. The poacher grunted. 

"It's not like I really want to. Bree won't leave me alone about it." He cocked his head towards Bree, who smiled and waved a bit. Marianne narrowed her eyes and thought about what to do. _'If we let them on, they could kill us. They're poachers! But then again, they do know how to get Eliza back.'_ She didn't know what to do. She could risk losing her life, but if she didn't take that risk, Eliza would never come home. _'Oh...what's the right thing to do?'_ She questioned herself. She closed her eyes in deep thought. 

Nigel was wondering the same thing. He decided to ask Bree. "Are you sure we can trust you to find our daughter?" His voice was laced with suspicion and the poacher could detect it. She shuddered unnoticeably and raised a hand up gently. 

"I can assure you that we did not bring any weapons here." She said. But somehow she knew it would take more convincing. She still remembered that terrible nightmare where Sloan had almost killed Eliza. Sure she was a nuisance, but Bree never really thought that killing her would be an option to Sloan. She was a child! _'She didn't deserve that.'_ She still didn't stop giving her husband a hard time at home. He'd act like nothing happened. Yet Bree knew he was just acting proud of what he almost had done those months ago. It sickened her. 


	8. The Terminal

In Elizabeth's dimension, Elizabeth had been taken away by Kip reluctantly to the nearest hospital. He didn't know how he was going to explain this, but he did have to follow Sloan's orders. _'And orders are orders.'_ He reminded himself. The dust kicked up and formed a cloud, and that was the last thing the others saw of him as he disappeared into the distance with Biederman. Eliza coughed a bit, even though the dust wasn't anywhere near her. She looked up at Sloan, then at Bree. They both were staring into the distance. 

She wondered if they both had the same thing on their mind as she did. _'Will Elizabeth be okay?'_ She still remembered the brave being risking her life to save theirs. _'That was noble, and brave.'_ She wiped another tear as it formed in her eyes. She smiled weakly to herself. 

Sloan looked at the small girl, and walked over. "She will be okay." He placed a hand on her shoulder, and smiled gently at the girl. Eliza smiled back. 

Then a voice from behind asked a question. "Hey, Eliza?" 

Eliza felt herself freeze. She knew that voice. It belonged to the same man who had tried to kill her earlier. She swifted around to see Nigel Thornberry, the evil one, standing behind her. He still had the same menacing expression, but his eyes told otherwise. 

She nodded. "Yes?" The poacher scratched the back of his head uneasily. 

_'This is not going to be easy to say.'_ He told himself. He finally confronted the girl. "Uhmm...thanks for helping us out back there, and all." 

Eliza's eyes glinted in surprise. She came back to reality and nodded her head again. "You're welcome." She smiled. Nigel lowered his head and smiled a little back. He wasn't used to this. Marianne and Debbie stood right beside him. They had the same smiling expression on their faces as well. They were grateful that Eliza had stuck up for them like that. 

Debbie clasped her hands together. "I never knew anyone would do that!" She exclaimed, causing Eliza to cover her eyes due to loud noise. The teenager noticed this, and clasped her hand over her mouth. "Oops...sorry." Marianne rolled her eyes, and trotted over to the smaller girl. "Thanks, Eliza." She bent down, and helped her back up. 

Eliza had fallen down a few seconds ago. Marianne was helping her up. Eliza didn't know what to say to the poachers except, "You're welcome." 

It did take a few hours, but the Thornberry poachers were able to reach the hospital. Eliza, Sloan, and Bree were taken with them, since she wouldn't be alive if it weren't for them. Eliza was sitting down in the back, reading a magazine. It was one of those fashion magazines that Debbie liked to carry around during hunts. It was the only non-poaching readable item that they had which didn't involve dead animals or poachers. 

"I can't believe that Debbie sold herself out to this." She muttered, hoping that her alternate sister didn't hear anything. She did. 

Debbie glanced over at Eliza. "What was that?!" She demanded. 

Eliza bolted up a bit startled, and turned over to the girl. "Uh, nothing!" She lied. _'That was close.'_ The last thing she needed was to start another fight. She remembered what had happened to Elizabeth when she got into an argument. Debbie didn't seem to believe her, but decided that it would be best to let it go. She shifted her gaze towards the front seat, and lay back down. She pulled out her CD player and headphones. She put them on, and started listening to boy bands. Eliza blinked. _'Guess she's not so different from the Debbie in my world after all...'_ She then looked out of the window, and saw a white building approaching. _'Wait...building's don't walk. That means that...'_

"We're here!" Nigel shouted as he slammed the breaks on the comvee. Everyone inside were thrown forward and landed on their stomachs side by side. They crawled up angrily and shot a glare at Nigel. 

"Oops...Sorry." The man apologized as the others crawled back to their feet. They didn't look very happy at all. 

Marianne walked over, grabbed her husband by the collar, and said, "Nigel, next time it'd be pleasant if you warn us before you press the breaks!" Nigel laughed nervously, and then lowered his head to his shoulders in shame. Then they heard a door open, and saw Eliza jumping out of the vehicle and running inside the building. Sloan and Bree looked at each other, and then hopped out of the vehicle as well. 

"We can't let her in there alone. ELIZA!!" Bree shouted to try and get the runaway kid's attention. Yet she just kept bolting towards the door, looking as if ready to slam it right open. Bree seemed faster than Sloan and was able to catch up to the girl. "Eliza, sto—OW!!" 

Eliza burst through the door and into the building to find Elizabeth. Bree didn't look where she was going and slammed headfirst into the manual door. She fell to the ground, and clutched her mouth. "Yow..." She murmured and went back up to her feet. Sloan wasn't far behind her. He ran towards his wife and asked her if she was all right. "Yes, I'm okay." She wiped her mouth and saw a little line of blood. _'Great.'_

The Thornberrys were not far behind. They calmly walked over, though a bit startled when Eliza took off like that. "That child can really run, can't she?" Marianne asked Sloan. 

He responded, "Well I wouldn't know for sure, but yeah." He rubbed his head a little. He took a deep breath, and walked into the building with his wife. Debbie walked in as well. She thought that people would spring on her right away, but no on did. In fact, no one even seemed to care that the Thornberrys were there. 

Debbie sighed. _'Well, at least it won't be so noisy.'_ She tried to find out which way everyone except her parents had went. She couldn't find the direction. _'Where are they?'_ She then heard her parents talking to a manager. She faintly heard her father say thank you. 

"Deborah!" He shouted as he walked over to his oldest daughter. He held out his hand. "Come over here." Debbie twisted around and moved over towards her father. She didn't know what he could have wanted. The last thing on her mind was something she needed to go through. 

"Elizabeth is in room C145, which is on the lower level. Come and follow me." He gestured for his family to follow him. The family headed towards the stairs, each of them hoping that Elizabeth would be just fine. They were at the base at the stops after a few minutes, and looked down the hallways. They split into 2. One was C Hall, the other A Hall. "I guess we go this way." Nigel took the C Hall pathway, and started to look for the number 145. It was the middle door on the right side, and the door was already opened. He peaked inside, and saw Sloan and Bree sitting down in a chair while Eliza seemed to be talking to an unconscious Elizabeth. 

"Where is this….machine?" Nigel asked in a dangerous tone as Marianne drove across the desert of April Springs. 

Sloan looked up, and strained his eye sight over along the distant horizon. "Over there!" He pointed in one direction, and the woman immediately turned there. They soon found themselves at an old building. The wood was so rotten it was falling down at the slightest touch. The Commvee stopped, and the people climbed out. 

"Now show us this machine." Marianne said, and Bree nodded. She walked into the building, gesturing the others to follow. Sloan growled and folded his arms. But he knew there was nothing he could do. _'Damn you, Bree.'_ He cursed in his mind. 

Bree pushed open an old door, and inside was a huge room. The Thornberrys stared in awe at it. She smiled as she pushed a button, which caused a mirror version of the vortex to appear. "This is the vortex that will bring your daughter back." She looked at it, and narrowed her eyes. "We can't control it completely, so it might bring more than just Eliza back with it." 

Marianne and Nigel looked at each other with worry. What if Bree was telling the truth? What if something else could come through? If it did, what if it was a monster, something dangerous? But they also wanted Eliza back so badly. They loved her. They couldn't just leave her there in that strange unknown world. They turned back to Bree, and nodded. 

"Let's do it." Nigel stated as Bree smiled slightly. 

"Okay, here goes nothing." The woman poacher pulled the lever. "But just so you know, this is untested..it might not work…." The Thornberrys didn't have time to argue. The swirling vortex zipped seemingly out of control, and sped its way into the parallel world, and towards the hospital, the one where Eliza was at… 

In the parallel dimension, Nigel had just arrived in the room. "Excuse me?" All heads turn towards the door. "I hope we aren't intruding." Nigel asked Eliza, who seemed to be having a private conversation with his daughter. He slowly opened up the door and walked inside the all-white room. He stepped inside and went up next to Eliza, who watched him with a wary eye. She obviously suspected him to suddenly attack her as he had in the forest. But he seemed more concerned about Elizabeth's welfare.__

_'I thought poachers were heartless.'_ Eliza thought as she watched the poacher's expression towards the girl. _'They may be different from us, but they're family....just like my family.' _She slowly smiled. These poachers weren't as different as they seemed. She was right. She turned her gaze away, and lulled to sleep. Bree had come over to support the child. Bree smiled as Eliza seemed to fall asleep in her arms, and then she noticed that Nigel, Marianne, and Debbie were all in the room. She glanced back at Elizabeth, who still hadn't woken up just yet. Bree picked up the girl and turned to the door. 

"Come on, Sloan." 

Sloan quickly asked her, "Why?" The woman slowly moved her head towards the family, who had come to see Elizabeth. Sloan nodded his head slowly, and got up out of his seat. "Okay, we'll go now." They were headed towards the door when the ground slowly started to rumble. Eliza was shaken awake by this, but Elizabeth slept like a log. The room shook with some kind of force, and some white light started to draw itself in midair. Eliza struggled out of Bree's grip, and backed up in terror as well everyone did. The poachers formed a protective circle around Elizabeth, and Eliza hid behind Sloan and Bree. A sudden force kicked up, and Eliza felt herself being sucked towards whatever it was. 

"Eliza!" Sloan screamed, and held out his hand. He grabbed Eliza's hand, and tried to pull her back. The circle had been completed, and it opened up. A blinding white light filled the room, and everyone had to close their eyes. It was dragging the naturalist Thornberry child towards the hole. The light seemed to get brighter as she got closer. She struggled to stay in Sloan's grip, but her grip was loosening. She had wide eye staring at the white opening, fearing for her life. 

"WHAT'S GOING ON?!" She managed to scream before she lost Sloan's grip. Everyone watched in horror as she was pulled in, and the light slowly disappeared. Everyone watched in silence...and the light turned dark..... 

"No...NO!!" Eliza suddenly snapped awake. She had some pain in the back of her head, and she rubbed it. She was a little surprised when she saw a little bit of blood. Her vision was quite blurred, and she tried to make out the figures in front of her. _'Where am I?'_ She thought, and looked at her surroundings. Although blurry, she could tell she was in some kind of desert. _'Australia....' _She smiled mentally. She tried to pick herself up, but fell back in pain. She heard someone's voice say, 

"Shh...poppit. You've had quite a fall." The voice was masculine, and she knew right away who it had to be. 

"D-Dad?" She whispered weakly. She heard the voice chuckle. 

"Yes, it's me, deary. Rest now." Eliza's vision was starting to sharpen up, and she could make out her father's worried and relieved expression. She glanced around, and could see Debbie and Marianne as well. 

She slowly waved her hands to them. "Hi, guys." She could barely make out Darwin and Donnie, who had come running over to greet her. Donnie gittered excitedly, and started bouncing up and down right next to her. All that movement made her dizzy. She groaned and rubbed her head. Marianne quickly grabbed Donnie to calm him down. 

"Oh, Eliza!" She heard the familiar male voice say. She was soon blinded by gray fur. She found herself looking directly face-to-face with her familiar simian companion. 

"Hey, Dar." She whispered to her friend. 

He just hugged her tighter. "I didn't know what happened to you!" He screamed with delight. Debbie watched, and smiled. She could only hear monkey noises coming from Darwin, but she got used to it. Her sister chattered something in response, and hugged the chimpanzee back. 

Debbie walked over to see Eliza. "Hey, Eliza." She sat down next to the younger girl, who coughed a little. "Hey, Debbie." She closed her eyes for a moment, and reopened them. 

Debbie asked, "What was it like? In that dimension? I won't tell, I promise." She winked. 

Eliza laughed, and cleared her throat. "It was...scary, I can tell you that." 

"What happened?" "Well...in that dimension...we're the poachers, and Sloan and Bree were...the good guys." 

The bigger sister blinked in complete and utter shock. _'Could she be lying?'_ "Are you sure?" Eliza nodded her head quickly. 

Debbie said, "That's...something new." She sighed and watched as her sister slowly breathed in pain. She gently stroked her little sister's hair, and said, "I'm glad you're okay." 

Eliza looked up at her sister, and smiled. "How did you get me out?" Debbie winked. "We convinced Sloan to help us. Bree as well helped convince him." Now this gave Eliza enough strength to pull herself all the way up. She was surprised that Sloan and Bree of this world would ever help them. She was going to ask how did they do it, but left it at that. It wasn't really any of her business, and it was all in the past. _'Nothing to worry about.'_ She hoped. 

"I'm glad to be back." Debbie could help but smile at her sister's remark, and they hugged. While in the embrace Eliza was thinking if what had happened was only a dream. She and Debbie had never been this close before, and Sloan and Bree weren't exactly the nicest people. _'Was it all a dream...or did it really happen?'_ She wondered. 

Somewhere, in the other dimension, while the other Thornberrys and Sloan and Bree watched, Elizabeth suddenly moved her lips. She seemed to have heard Eliza's words, and she whispered, before surrendering to the darkness yet again, her answer. "It happened." She smiled, and the darkness overcame her. 

The darkness plagued Elizabeth's mind for the longest time. She didn't remember what had happened to her. The last thing she did remember was jumping in front of something….big…and gray…to save someone. She felt like she was floating around in a void, unaware of what was going on around her. She winced. _'What am I going to do?'_ She couldn't think of what to do now. It seemed as though her world was falling apart. She saw shapes in front of her in the pitch darkness. They looked wavy and distorted. She whimpered and backed away, until she realized that she couldn't move. More fear filled her mind. 'No!' She heard her mind cry, and then bright lights flashed across the 'void'. She swiftly looked around, and couldn't find a source anywhere. The shapes in front of her took on color, and humanoid shapes. She narrowed her eyes for a better look, but then soon everything went dark… 

"ELIZABETH!!!" Marianne screamed at the top of her lungs. They all heard the familiar sound of a long monotone beeping. Elizabeth's heart had stopped. The frantic woman poacher grabbed her daughter by the shoulders and shook her, desperately trying to make her snap out of it. Elizabeth didn't respond. 

"Elizabeth! Wake up!" She shouted again. Inside Elizabeth's mind, she was struggling to see. She could faintly hear garbled cries.. _'No, they're more like pleads…'_ She listened real hard, and finally recognized it as her mother. _'Mom!'_ She still couldn't move, but she tried her best. She managed to move a finger, and then the monotone sound she kept on hearing stopped abruptly, and began a pattern of short beeps. Marianne let out a sigh of relief. "What a scare." She murmured. 

"Well, we'd better be going." Sloan said nervously, rubbing the back of his head. Nigel looked at him, and walked up to him. The two people, total opposites, finally looked at each other eye to eye. The poacher nodded slowly. 

"I guess this might change some things between us, won't it?" The poacher chuckled, and the blonde man smiled weakly. 

He didn't answer, simply turned around and went for the door. Bree stood up front her seat, and turned to follow her husband. She stopped to give Elizabeth one last look. _'Good luck, kid.'_ The Blackburns disappeared out of the room, and left the Thornberrys in there, alone with the sickly Elizabeth. Debbie looked down at her sister with worry. 

"I hope she recovers soon. That blow really took a lot of her." 

Marianne gave her a warning look as Nigel winced in emotional pain. Deborah realized her mistake, and waved her hands. "Sorry, dad. Didn't mean to…." 

"It's alright, Deborah. It was my fault." He raised a hand and gently stroked Elizabeth's hair. "I'm sorry…" He whispered. 

Then he felt something touch his hand. He looked down, and he couldn't help but smile. Elizabeth had gripped his hand tightly, and her eyes were cracked open slightly. A weak smile made its way along her lips. She opened up her mouth to speak, but what came out sounded like more like a croak than words. 

"Hello." She coughed a few times, and took a good look at her family members surrounding her. She looked around, and tried to find Eliza. "Hey…where's Eliza?" 

The poachers looked at each other, and hung their heads sadly. "A vortex opened up and sent her to another dimension." 

Marianne then added in, "You told her that it did happen…when she disappeared." 

Elizabeth slowly blinked in confusion. "I did? How would I have known?" Her sister thought for a moment. _'This is a tough one.'_

"Maybe you and Eliza share some kind of…supernatural bond or something." 

Elizabeth nodded. That would make a lot of sense, she believed. 

Nigel sighed, "They say it may take you awhile to recover, but don't worry, you'll be on your feet soon." He gave his youngest daughter a big hug. 

Elizabeth hugged him back, and said, "I love you, dad." 

Meanwhile, back in Africa in Eliza's own dimension, not everyone was happy that Eliza was back home. A scream escaped through the window of a dark crimson van. It almost shattered the wooden table that the man had struck with his fist in anger. "How could we have let her go so easily?!" He shouted, and growled with frustration. He rubbed his head, and began to think. Bree was in the back fixing something. Sloan didn't know what, and he didn't bother to ask. 

_'If only she hadn't gone to the Thornberrys to help them, and made me help them, Eliza would have been gone for good!' _He still couldn't believe his wife would betray him like this. But he didn't seem to care. All he wanted was to make sure Eliza doesn't come back again…alive. He looked through his stuff, and found something thick and heavy. A small metal pole, he picked it up. 

"Hmm…." He said as he gave the pole a swing or two, "…not bad…" Then a thought crossed his mind. He smiled darkly. _'I think I know how to get rid of Eliza…..'_ He began to laugh, and then darkness fell. And Eliza felt a sharp pain in her heart, and she shivered. Somehow she knew the danger wasn't quite over yet… 

**_Running from all the situations_**   
**_You mess me up, bring me down_**   
**_I'm waiting for the right moment_**   
**_To lift me up, let you in my life, yeah_**

**_Don't wanna live inside without your love_**   
**_Cuz no one else can make me feel this way_**

**_To love me, is gonna take a lot_**   
**_I can't wait til the end of forever_**   
**_Believe me, it ain't ever gonna stop_**   
**_Could it be tonight, or til the end of forever, oh yeah_**

**_Driving on a runaway freeway_**   
**_It's killing me, I know it's eating you_**   
**_Oh, free me so we can go there_**   
**_All we need is you to show me the way, oh yeah_**   
**_Can you see the fear of tears in my eyes_**   
**_I know you feel me baby, I gotta make it right, yeah_**

**_To love me, is gonna take a lot_**   
**_I can't wait til the end of forever_**   
**_Believe me, it ain't ever gonna stop_**   
**_Could it be tonight, or til the end of forever_**

**_All my life I've been waiting for a sign to show me_**   
**_To lead me to the other side_**

**_To love me, is gonna take a lot_**   
**_I can't wait til the end of forever_**   
**_Believe me, it ain't ever gonna stop_**   
**_Could it be tonight, or til the end of forever_**

**_To love me, is gonna take a lot_**   
**_I can't wait til the end of forever_**   
**_Believe me, it ain't ever gonna stop_**   
**_Could it be tonight, or til the end of forever_**   
**__**

**_There are things in life you'll learn and_**   
**_In time you'll see_**   
**_Cause out there somewhere_**   
**_It's all waiting_**   
**_If you keep believing_**   
**_So don't run, don't hide_**   
**_It will be all right_**   
**_You'll see, trust me_**   
**_I'll be there watching over you_****__**

**_Just take a look through my eyes_**   
**_There's a better place_**   
**_somewhere out there_**   
**_Just take a look through my eyes_**   
**_Everything changes_**   
**_You'll be amazed what you'll find_**   
**_If you look through my eyes_****__**

**_There will be times on this journey_**   
**_All you'll see is darkness_**   
**_Out there somewhere daylight finds you_**   
**_If you keep believing_****__**

**_So don't run, don't hide_**   
**_It will be all right_**   
**_You'll see, trust me_**   
**_I'll be there watching over you_****__**

**_Just take a look through my eyes_**   
**_There's a better place_**   
**_somewhere out there_**   
**_Just take a look through my eyes_**   
**_Everything changes_**   
**_You'll be amazed what you'll find_**   
**_If you look through my eyes_****__**

**_All the things that you can change_**   
**_There's a meaning in everything_**   
**_And you will find all you need_**   
**_There's so much to understand_****__**

**_Just take a look through my eyes_**   
**_There's a better place_**   
**_somewhere out there_**   
**_Just take a look through my eyes_**   
**_Everything changes_**   
**_You'll be amazed what you'll find_**   
**_If you look through my eyes_****__**

**_Take a look through my eyes_**   


  


Whoa! Well, there's the story. All of it. Yeah, it's long, isn't it? I liked how it turned out. I hope you all liked it, too. It's a good story in my opinion. This story is longer than my Mythical Digimon Trilogy. ::so happy:: Well, I hope ya'll enjoyed this as much as I did. Oh, and no, I don't plan on a sequel. Take too long... Oo; But if you want to use the alternate Thornberrys you may. Bye! 

Yep, this is the new version of the story. It's a bit longer, chaptered (finally), and the scenes added were put there to better explain certain things. Well, for the most part anyway…the flashback of the Wild Thornberrys Movie was put there for fun. ; 

Anyway, here's a scene from the upcoming sequel, "Return to Dark Dimension"! Just so you know, it's kinda long. ;; This is the scene of the first time you see Elizabeth and Debbie(poacher) in "Return to Dark Dimension". And just so you know, when they're sent back, they also go back in time a little, so Elizabeth's evil again. And just so you know.....I can't spell Tembo/Timbo valley correctly. ; Just so you know, the sequel will be R rated. 

Oh, yes, the new scene added in the end is to tie in this story with the prolouge of On The Other Side and epilouge of Return to Dark Dimension, "Poisoned Lies".   
  
  


In another part of Africa, near the same location as Eliza had met the evil Thornberrys, the sound of cutting could be heard. The glinting blade raised up in the air, the light of the sun shining off of it. The hand gripped it tightly and it slowly lowered down. The tip of the blade cut under something soft, furry, and thin. It then thrust upwards, creating a thin opening. The furry thing was sliced open, and inside there was a lot of bones and muscle, blood vessels…It was an animal's skin being sliced open! The blade was pulled out, and then continued working down across the animal's stomach. The animal seemed to be a cheetah cub, adolescent, female. The blade was finally set aside, the blade itself slightly stained with the animal's dried blood. The person, Elizabeth, smirked, and pushed her fingers into the animal's body, right under the skin. 

She then tightly gripped the skin between her fingers, and pulled outward. The cheetah's skin peeled off quickly, revealing the muscle structure underneath. Ignoring the gruesome sight, she continued to pull across, and then finally ripped the skin from the body. She set the fur aside, and then started working on the legs. She pushed the knife into the front right leg, and cut a thin opening, careful not to damage the valuable fur coat. She heard footsteps coming. She turned around. 

"Oh, hello…Debbie." She hissed lightly. "What are you doing here? I thought you didn't like the sight of skinning." 

The teenager scoffed, and slowly turned to the side. She adjusted her scarf, made from leopard skin, and said, "I only came here to tell you that mom and dad just got another assignment." She looked down at her little sister, who was still busy taking off the skin of the cheetah cub that they had captured previously. There were 3 others, and they plan on finding them quickly. 

Elizabeth put the knife down, and was busy pulling off the fur off the leg. "Interested?" Debbie inquired, smirking slightly. 

"Go ahead. I'm listening." Elizabeth said, but never turned to look at her teenaged sister. 

Shrugging, the teenager continued to say her message. "Dad and mom have gotten an assignment in Tembo Valley." 

"Hmm?" Elizabeth looked at her, rather confused. She asked what kind of assignment. 

The blonde chuckled lightly. "It's almost time to catch the elephants, remember?" 

Then it hit her. Of course! The elephants! In just a few hours the elephants were going to end up in Tembo Valley. They had worked weeks building a fence by the light of moon, and there was no way anyone would suspect anything to happen in Tembo Valley. It had a reputation of being a quiet place. Thinking that only elephants would be there, the authorities might leave the place alone. The mountains, rigged with dynamite, would explode and frighten the elephants. Then when the beasts were dead and stiff, they'd remove the tusks from the putrid bodies, and leave the bodies to rot. They would be worthless then. 

Elizabeth set the cub aside. "Oh, shit, I forgot all about it!" She sprung up, and ran inside the Commvee. "I gotta get ready." She disappeared inside, shutting the door behind her. 

Debbie shook her head, and then looked at the dead cub. She shuddered slightly, and backed away. _'Sometimes I wish there was a better way to get a fur coat.' _She decided to pick up after Elizabeth anyway, and walked over to the side of the vehicle. She pulled out a large case, colored black. She opened it up, and wrinkled her nose in disgust. A putrid smell filled the air. The bodies of several not-fully skinned animals were inside. She quickly grabbed the cheetah cub, and stuffed it inside, and shut the door quickly. 

"Man does this thing stink! If we don't give ourselves up to the authorities, this thing will give us away!" She put the box back, and then walked over to the table. _'Might as well put these up.'_ She picked up the strips of skin, laced with orange fur, and folded them up. She placed them inside a small containment box where the family hid some of their furs that weren't quite ready for sewing yet. She looked back at the door. Elizabeth hadn't made a peep since she went in there. What was taking her so long? Debbie walked towards the door, and reached for the knob. Then suddenly, the door swung open! Debbie was accidentally hit in the jaw, and was sent falling towards the ground. 

"Yeow! Elizabeth! Watch it!!" The teenager screamed as she caressed her injured jaw. 

The 12 year old shook her head. _'What an idiot.'_ "Well next time don't be so close to the door." She stepped out, and was now changed in her poaching outfit. She held a spear, and set it aside. She was wearing her talisman. That was probably what took her so long. The girl always seems to misplace it. Debbie suggested just keeping the stupid thing on, but the redhead wouldn't listen to her. Of course, Debbie never did figure out why her sister wore it in the first place. She just set aside that her sister believed that it brings her good luck. 

_'What a laugh!'_ She chuckled in her mind. "I still can't believe I lost track of the time…" The redhead muttered darkly under her breath. Her sister could barely hear what she had just said, so she moved in a bit closer to try and hear. 

"What did you say?" She asked softly, only to be interrupted by an abrupt arrival of one of their parents. It was sudden, she admitted. Debbie moved back from her sister and towards her mother, who had returned with a radio in her hands. 

"Debbie, did you tell Elizabeth?" She asked, despite the fact that Elizabeth was right there, packing her things. The teenager nodded quickly, and gestured towards the girl, who was now standing there, looking at them. "Eliza, why weren't you getting ready a few hours earlier?" Her mother scolded her daughter, and tapped her foot, waiting for an answer. 

The girl snarled. "My name isn't Eliza, okay? It's Elizabeth!" She rubbed her forehead. "And if you must know, I lost track of the time." 

"Tsk..tsk…" The woman should her head in disbelief, and placed her hands on her hips. She turned towards the Commvee. "Your father is meeting us in the Timbo Valley. We've gotta leave right away." She hopped inside, and took control of the wheel. 

The two siblings looked at each other, and shrugged. "Why don't you take that thing off?" Debbie asked Elizabeth as they boarded the Commvee, carrying the stuff that they needed. Elizabeth was quite annoyed by her sister's questioning. Ever since 2 years ago when she first got the talisman, her sister's been nagging at her about not taking it to so many places. She didn't know the true extent of its power. But Elizabeth couldn't tell her that. It was her little secret. If anyone else found out about it, they'd use it for their own stupid purposes. 

_'Why doesn't she shut up?'_ She mentally inquired as she harshly glared at her blonde-haired sister, who was staring at her for an answer. "I'm waiting." The teenager grew impatient. 

Elizabeth gave a few snarls, and then calmed down. "Well, it's none of your business why I keep wearing this, OKAY?!" She snapped at Debbie. Debbie flinched and drew back towards the back of her seat, a bit surprised, but not too surprised, by her sister's sudden outburst. The younger girl settled down, and stared out of the window. 

_'For someone who hates nature, she seems to like looking out the window …'_ Debbie blinked in a bit of confusion, but her mind was returned on their mission: to capture the elephants for their tusks. 


	9. Aftermath: Poisoned Lies

Disclaimer: I do not own The Wild Thornberrys or any of its characters. They belong to Klasky-Csupo and Nickelodeon.   
Author's Note: This story was inspired to me by a song by Creed. I like some of their songs, yes, I admit it. This story is a bit gruesome in some parts. But it's also the prequel to the upcoming fic, "Return to Dark Dimension." I hope you enjoy it!   
  
  


ADDITIONAL INFO: 

Soundtrack: 

1. Sister-Creed (?????)   
2. Against All Odds-Phil Collins (?????)   


Basic Info: 

Alternate Titles: None available   
Rated PG-13 for blood, violence, and scenes that may be disturbing for younger viewers.   
  
  


POISONED LIES   
Story by DarkHououmon   
  
  
  


Dizziness overwhelmed her as she stood up. Wiping her face with her hands, she took a look at her surroundings. Nothing seemed familiar to the child. Her red hair swayed in the light breeze as she tried to recollect what had happened. She remembered nothing at all.....nothing except a sharp blow in the back of her head. It took her a while to realize that her glasses were off, and tried to pick them up, but the darkness had already overtaken her, and she fell down. She remained in the total darkness, but the light finally came a few hours later. 

She found herself in front of something bright and orange. She quickly grabbed her thick-lensed glasses and could make out a small fire. She looked at herself and realized that she was covered in a sleeping bag. A bowl of some type of food had been laid next to her. She groaned a little and sat up, taking a good look around her. She was at someone's camp, she guessed. The girl rubbed her head, and yawned. 

The girl then pulled herself off the ground to try walking, but she fell back down. She yelped in pain and grabbed her head. _'What a headache!'_ She thought. She then heard footsteps from inside a trailer, which she finally noticed was sitting right behind her. She turned to face the direction of the sound. 

A man with blonde hair walked out. He wore some type of jacket, tan in color, and had a knife strapped to his leg. A look of concern was on his face, the thing that the girl did not expect to see. "You're awake, kid?" The man asked. His voice sounded tranquil and calm. 

"Yes." She meeped. 

The man seemed to sense her nervousness, and laughed. "It's all right, child. You're safe with me." 

The redhead took a good look at her surroundings again, and glared at the man, and tried to see if she could recognize him. But her mind went blank. She shuddered a little from the cold, and wrapped herself up. She almost forgotten that it was very dark out, and thus colder. The girl closed her eyes. "Where am I?" She asked silently. 

"Why," The man began, "You're at my campsite." His voice sounded slightly harsh, but she didn't notice that. 

"Who are you?" Was the girl's second question. 

This made the man a bit surprised as he blinked several times, but he took no note of it, and said, "We've met before. I'm Sloan Blackburn." He said gently. _'She probably does have amnesia.' _He moved in closer to her to get a reaction, but he got none whatsoever. The girl just sat there, staring into nothing. 

"I-I don't know who I am." She finally said as a silent tear escaped her eye. Sloan gasped, and then the girl turned towards him. She looked at him through big teary eyes. "I don't know who I am!" 

Unable to think, Sloan said, "I know who you are." The girl stopped the tears from flowing and looked at him, her eyes brightening. 

"Then," She sighed, "Who am I?" 

Sloan rubbed the back of his head. "You're...Eliza Thornberry." 

The girl blinked. "I don't recognize the name." 

"That's because you have amnesia." The girl, now identified as Eliza, looked to the ground, a sadness look plastered on her face. She just wished she could remember her past. "But it's probably best that you do." The man intentionally added in. 

Eliza's eyes widened slightly. "Why?" 

Sloan gave a sad sigh. "It's a sad story...yes....." He looked away from the child, who kept looking at him, almost begging him to tell the story. 

"I must know!" The girl shouted, sitting up as well as she could. Sloan looks at her, then back at the ground. He grabs a stick and begins tracing into the ground with it. _'I should tell her....'_ He almost mentally chuckled. 

Giving a single sigh, the man turns back towards her. "It was your sister." That was the only thing he said at first. He waited for the girl's reaction. He wasn't sure if Eliza had full amnesia or not. If she did, he could get his revenge on the Thornberrys easily. But if she did remember, it might be a bit trickier. 

Eliza just blinked in confusion. "I-I have a sister?" _'Yes! She doesn't remember!'_ Sloan's mind shouted happily. But he didn't show it. He couldn't let the girl in on his little secret. He instead began to talk very solemnly. 

"Yes. Her name is Debbie." 

Eliza cocked her head to the right, not sure of what to think of this. "What about her?" 

Yet another sigh escaped Sloan's mouth. It was the only thing he could do to keep from laughing. "She...she......." He choked out, but it seemed as though he could say it. He wiped away an invisible tear. 

Eliza edged closer to him. She repeated her question, "What about her?" Finally the man set the stick on the floor, no longer wanting to hold it. 

"She attacked you." The young girl gasped and moved back in surprise. Sloan continued, "Not only that, but she's the one who did this to you," He gestured to the back of her head, and she noticed the bump as she felt around it. "And then she just left you...." The poacher turned his head away, but his mind was still open, locking in on the girl._ 'This should work.'_ He kept telling himself. 

**_Caught up in the middle_**   
**_Had no choice, had no choice_**   
**_Birthright forgotten_**   
**_So silent, no voice_**

Meanwhile, the girl was trying to digest this new bit of information. How could this be possible? Somehow Eliza knew that Debbie shouldn't be her enemy. But if she wasn't, why would she hurt her own sister? Eliza's breathing seemed to quicken. Her heart sped up faster and faster. She gripped the ground tightly in her hands. The dirt seeped through her fingers as she raised both hands up in a fist. She closed her eyes, and let a few tears of betrayal escape her eyes, and hit the ground. Her eyes were tightly closed, and she then reopened them. Instead of the happy look she usually has in her eyes, a look of cold hatred was in them. Even Sloan was a bit taken back by this hard look. 

The child turned her gaze towards the man. "I want...to get even." Eliza said darkly. She never turned her almost lifeless eyes away from Sloan. 

"S-Sure." He muttered quickly. He grabbed his bag, and rummaged through it. Eliza waited patiently. _'Debbie will pay.' _Were the words clouding her mind and judgment. She watched as the poacher tried to find something in the bag. It looked almost empty, she thought. Finally, the man found what he wanted and pulled it out. Eliza couldn't help but smile, sneering as well. In Sloan's hand was a knife. It wasn't the same one as his own. No, this one was more dangerous than his own. The handle was only about 4 or 5 inches long. The handle was ebony wood, shadowy black. The blade, made from stainless steel, as the part that seemed most impressive. It stretched outward, a sawed bottom edge, towards one direction. It made a slight curve in the middle. The blade itself was almost 26 inches from the top of the handle to the tip of the blade. A machete it was. 

"Here." Sloan said as he tossed the machete over. "Use this." The machete twirled in the air, and Eliza grabbed it by the blade, not cutting herself. Not even a scratch appeared as she tightly gripped the knife in her bare hands. 

**_I see you_**   
**_You know who_**   
**_Little sister, little sister_**   
**_Now realize, little sister_**   
**_Overlooked little girl_**   
**_Now realize, little sister_**   
**_Overlooked little girl_**

"This will do nicely." She said. She rose to her feet. Sloan watched as the girl looked around. She looked back at Sloan. "Which way?" 

The poacher looked at the girl with a bit of uneasiness nerving him. He could see the rage in her eyes. It had been too easy to manipulate her. Too easy... He pointed a gloved finger in a single direction. No words were needed. Not even a gesture. It only took the point of the finger to set Eliza off. The 12 year old took off into the forest, alone. Sloan watched her leave, and when she was out of sight, his nervous face turned into an evil smile. 

"That went very well." He picked up a stick, and drew something into the ground. "When one Thornberry falls, the rest will follow." His dark words escaped his throat in a growl. "I just might be able to get rid of Eliza, and without even harming her or her family myself." The fire crackled almost instantly as Sloan laughed, but Eliza never heard him..... 

The Commvee lay almost hidden against the trees. The branches lightly touched the roof, and barely make a scratch. The black stripes made it blend in with the shadows, but the yellow made it stand out like a sore thumb. The lights were off. It was night time. Eliza had been gone for quite some time, and Debbie was keeping watch for her. The teenager at first was grumbling about how her sister is always going on adventures and such. But when Darwin had returned and with no Eliza, things started to get serious. When Darwin came back, they couldn't go out searching for Eliza because it was too dark, too late, and no rangers were available. They could only hope that the girl would come back. Debbie sat down in her chair, her headphones on, and listened to her favorite rock band. 

She turned the music off. She felt something weird, like something very bad was about to happen. 

"Maybe it's just a gut feeling." She murmured to herself as she pulled herself up from the chair. _'Might as well look around.'_ She pulled out her flashlight. She thought she saw something rush through the foliage, but thought it was her imagination. The teenager moved the light of the flashlight around. The illuminated areas revealed nothing. The light just kept hitting leaves and bark. She could have sworn she saw some small animals in the process. Debbie did not see anything to worry about, though. She turned to go back to her seat when the sound she though she had imagined earlier went off again, this time quicker. _'Now I KNOW I didn't imagine that one.' _Debbie turned around. 

"Who's there?" She asked nervously. There was some defiance in her voice. She did not want to sound like a coward. 

**_Bottled up and empty holding back_**   
**_At loss, you're forgotten_**   
**_Getting back, get back_**   
**_Bottled up and empty holding back_**   
**_At loss, you're forgotten_**   
**_Getting back, get back, get back, get back, yeah_**

The rustling of the bushes was heard again, and the bushes began to part. Debbie tried to turn on the flashlight again, but the light flickered off. The only light was from the candle that she had out in case the flashlight went dead. The candle light provided little view for Debbie, and she had to squint to get a better look at the intruder. Her eyes widened as the figure came closer, ever so slowly. It took a while, but Debbie finally recognized the figure. 

"Eliza?" The teenager gasped, seeing the outline of her sister against the weak light. "You're back!" She gave a genuine smile, but that soon faded when Eliza stepped one step closer, and she could see the look of hatred glued on her little sister's face. 

Her eyes were so cold and lifeless...it was almost hard to believe this was Eliza. And she wasn't prepared for what she said next. "Don't try that on me....You were responsible for my disappearance!" Though it wasn't the best choice of words, the tone of her voice made the impact on Debbie, who backed away in confusion. 

**_Expectations of another_**   
**_Love given to the younger_**   
**_Broken father, broken brother_**   
**_Emptiness feeds the hunger_**

"W-What?" She blinked. "I didn't do any....." 

"Don't give me that." The smaller girl hissed back, startling Debbie even more. Eliza snarled, and continued, "I've been warned of your lies...." _'Somewhat.' _She continued in her thought. The blonde blinked, and opened her mouth to try and persuade the girl that she was wrong. But before she could get a word out, Eliza reached out from behind her back. "If I believed you," Eliza growled lightly, "Then I wouldn't have come here to do...this." Her voice turned dark, almost like a snake's hiss. 

"What are you talking about?" The confused teenager seemed to become more frustrated than nervous, but that all shifted as the redhead pulled her hand from behind her back, revealing what she was hiding. "Oh my..." Debbie didn't utter the last word. She was too busy staring at the sharp object that Eliza was holding. In her hand, in a fist shaking with rage, was a very long machete. It looked to be about 26 inches long. Debbie stepped back, her eyes widening. 

Eliza smiled, and purred, "Oh, sister...dear...I'm back!" 

Suddenly, without warning, the small girl leapt forward, and brought the blade out in front of her. The sharp end pointed straight at Debbie's neck. The teenager at first was frozen in fear. _'What is she doing?'_ Her mind raced panickingly. She finally got the nerve to move, and quickly dodged to the side. The blade swished past her, and stuck into the side of the tree that she was standing near. The machete's blade was stuck. Debbie had her eyes closed and shook with fear. She opened up her eyes, and could see her little sister's face glaring at her through a cold stare. Eliza grunted and pulled the blade out. _'Her anger must've made her stronger.'_ Debbie thought, since Eliza seemed to have no difficulty in pulling out the machete. But while she was preoccupied, Debbie turned and made a run for it. 

Once the blade was out, the smaller girl noticed that the older girl had gone. "Debbie...." She snarled, and took off after the teenager. 

Debbie didn't look back. She was too busy wondering why her sister was acting the way she is. It didn't make any sense! Eliza never acted like this before! They had fought before, but Eliza never pulled out a knife to her like that, especially in a threatening manner. However, Debbie wasn't paying attention to where she was going, and tripped over a vine. 

"Ow!" She yelped as her face hit the ground. She struggled to get up on her feet, but then she heard a snort, then a cry. 

"What?" She asked, but as soon as that word left her mouth, she felt someone pushing her into the ground. Eliza had leapt out from behind when Debbie wasn't looking, the machete in her hands. The two sisters skidded across the grassy floor, and finally came to a stop in the middle of a group of trees. Debbie didn't look right away. She gave a few gasps, then turned her head around. Eliza used one hand to pin the blonde into the ground. She held the 26 inch machete in the other hand, and raised it high above the older girl's head. She felt her fear rise within her. 

"Eliza, don't...." She whispered softly, hoping that Eliza would realize the truth. But the redhead seemed unfazed, and tightened the muscles in her arm, preparing for the blow. 

**_I see you_**   
**_You know who_**   
**_Little sister, little sister_**   
**_Now realize, little sister_**   
**_Overlooked little girl_**   
**_Now realize, little sister_**   
**_Overlooked little girl_**

"It's too late, sister." The redhead's voice sounded vicious, like Sloan's. _'Could he have something to do with this?'_ Debbie wondered. Her eyes, widened in horror, locked on the sharp end of the blade. She then looked at her younger sister. The look on her face could make anyone run away in dread. Her eyes bore the look of hatred, even stronger than hatred. They no longer had the life in them as they had before her disappearance. 

_'Why?'_ Debbie wondered. Eliza's face contorted into a vicious grin, and whispered, "Die." The teenager's mouth dropped open in terror and the blade swung down. Debbie closed her eyes tightly, and waited for the blow. But to her surprise, she felt the swoosh of the blade striking to the side of her head, and hitting the dirt. 

The teenager seemed confused. "Wha..?" She murmured, and opened up her eyes. She looked up at her sister. Eliza seemed frozen in fear. Her face still had the angered snarl, but her eyes had softened up, brimming with tears. 

"I...can't...." Eliza whispered softly. 

"Eliza?" Debbie asked, concerned as Eliza started shaking. 

**_Bottled up and empty holding back_**   
**_At loss, you're forgotten_**   
**_Getting back, get back_**   
**_Bottled up and empty holding back_**   
**_At loss, you're forgotten_**   
**_Getting back, get back, get back, get back, yeah_**

Eliza wasn't listening. She continued to shake as if in fear of something. Inside her mind she was debating with herself. _'She's my sister! No matter what she's done, I can't....'_ A flash of anger went by._ 'But she is the one who attacked me...Still....'_ She dropped the machete on the ground, and clutched her head. "Why can't I do it?!" She screamed to no one in particular. 

Debbie rose to her feet, taken aback by this display of emotion. "Eliza?" She whispered again. The younger girl still didn't move, almost like she was no longer aware of her surroundings. Debbie cautiously moved forward closer to the troubled little girl. _'I must....'_ Eliza's eyes snapped open, and she suddenly leapt at Debbie again. The teenager yelped in surprise when she was pushed into the ground yet again. 

"Eliza!" She screamed in surprise. "Stop!" She pleaded, but the machete was above her head once more. 

"I will not be distracted anymore." The dark voice hissed at Debbie, and made her spine freeze in fright. In an effort to save herself, Debbie kicked Eliza in the stomach with her knee. The small girl yelped in pain and got off her sister and held her stomach. A little bit of blood trickled out of her mouth. She gave a few growly gasps, and glared at her sister. "You..." She said threateningly. 

_'Oh man...' _Debbie backed away from the enraged girl. The machete raised again. Debbie looked back towards the Commvee. Everyone was probably asleep by now. _'I don't think I should wake them....but....'_ She looked back at her sister, who was advancing dangerously. _'I don't think I have a choice.' _Without warning, Eliza sprang up to attack. Debbie ran towards the Commvee, and Eliza hit the ground. She snarled as she climbed back up to her feet, and took off after her sister again. 

The next minute, the teenager was in the Commvee, trying to find a place to hide. She saw something sharp on the floor. She picked it up. _'A knife.'_ It wasn't nearly as big as the machete, but the blade was thicker than the machete's blade. It would do to keep the blade from hitting her. Debbie held onto it as she continued to move down in the darkness of the bedroom. She hadn't a clue if Eliza would find her in the dark so easily. Debbie slowly rose to her feet and looked around the room dreadfully. She slowly backed up, wondering where Eliza could be. She then bumped into something soft and stiff at the same time. She then heard a dark chuckle, and eyes grew wide. 

"No....not.....don't...." She muttered indistinctly, eyes closed now. Reluctantly, she slowly turned around. Standing right behind her was Eliza! Giving a gasp of shock, the teenager fell to the ground. 

The darkness made Eliza seemed more menacing then ever. The shadows almost completely hid her face. The only thing showing was her glasses, shining in the moonlight, and the parts of her face that were being reflected on by her glasses. The machete glistened in the little light their was. 

An ominous smile covered her face, her teeth bared like a crazed animal. "Don't try to hide it. You know you're guilty!" She spoke in a deep, dark voice. Debbie, on her back, backed up as fast as she could but Eliza advanced to quickly. Before she knew it, Debbie once again was pinned down by her sister. This time, Eliza had grabbed her throat to hold her down. 

Undying horror filled her mind as the teenager saw the machete rise above her head once again. There was no turning back, she knew. Eliza wasn't going to stop this time. She quickly looked at the knife that she had found, and knew it was her only hope. The machete swung down! Without thinking, Debbie quickly pulled the smaller yet thicker knife up above her head, and heard a loud clanking sound of metal hitting metal. She opened her eyes and stared up. The machete had stopped right in front of her face, thanks to the blade. A look of anger and frustration was what she could see on Eliza's face, and the redhead tried hard to get loose of the smaller blade and dig the machete into her blonde sister. 

**_Now realize, little sister_**   
**_Overlooked little girl_**   
**_No direction, little sister_**   
**_Overlooked little girl_**

Eliza grunted in anger as she continued to push hard on the blade. Debbie tried her best to keep her ground. _'I hope this works.'_ She prayed, her eyes locked on the sharp blade of the machete, which was so close to her face. The girls felt their arms tire, but they wouldn't give in so easily. Debbie hoped that if she gave one final push, the machete would slip and get stuck in the Commvee. So she started to push harder, to Eliza's surprise. _'She's still going for it.'_ She thought, but hatred still clouded her judgement. But then, without warning, the blades slipped, and not in the way that Debbie was hoping. 

The machete did get stuck in the ground, but cut her along the shoulder. The small knife whipped upwards and hit something with a sickening sound. An ear-piercing scream shook the Commvee. Debbie finally gathered the courage to look up. A drop of something wet landed on her face. _'Yuck.'_ She muttered as the liquid seemed slimy almost. She looked up. A gasp of horror escaped from her mouth. She let go of the handle of the knife, but it remained in tact in what she had stabbed. She brought her hands to her mouth and tears started to gather behind her eyes. 

**_Change, change, change, change..._**

Eliza gritted her teeth in pain, letting out a few gasps of breath. The knife had stabbed her in the eye, going right through it! The knife was stuck. She grabbed the handle herself and started to pull out the blade. It came out, and she screamed again. Debbie watched in shock as the eye socket swelled shut, looking so swollen it seemed as though a bee stung her there. She almost felt sick to her stomach. Eliza dropped both blades as she slowly sank to her knees. The blood covered her face, and she frantically tried to wipe it. The blade had sliced her eye up from down below. Her glasses were still in tact. Her hands started shaking, and her face grew pale. 

"Eliza....." Debbie whispered sadly and shamefully. The body of the redhead collapsed onto her stomach, a small pool of blood gathering around her face. Debbie rushed to her side, and slowly turned her over. There was a deep stab on the left side of her face, and also a jagged cut. Eliza must've accidentally hurt herself more when she pulled out the blade. Debbie felt a lump in her throat as she held back sobs. "Eliza." She said again, and slowly picked up the fallen child, and carried her up. 

Meanwhile, someone in the darkness was watching them. His eyes brightened with delight as he saw the blade stab Eliza's left eye right in half. A toothy grin covered his face. "The plan is working better than I thought." The figure whispered hoarsely. He watched the teenager pick Eliza up and carry her out of the bedroom. _'Let's see what she does next....'_ He walked in a different direction. The light shown on his body. Sloan Blackburn it was! 

He grunted in disgust as the light temporary revealed himself. He hid back in the shadows, and peered into another window. He could see Debbie bringing up the unconscious 12 year old up into what appears to be the kitchen. He then heard footsteps. Loud footsteps, that is. _'Her parents!'_ He backed away from the window so that they wouldn't see him. But he also stayed close enough so he could watch, and an evil smile was his response to Debbie's attempt to stop the bleeding. 

"She's a goner." He hissed. 

"What's going on?" A feminine voice sounded out. Marianne slowly climbed out of her bedroom, and rubbed her eyes sleepily. It was late at night and she had no idea why she heard the loud scream. She knew it was Eliza's but it was far late at night and she was too tired. Not noticing the blood dripping on the floor, she asked, "Debbie, what's wrong?" She let out a weary yawn, and opened up her eyes. "What?!" She gasped, bringing her hand to her mouth as shock overwhelmed her. 

Her oldest daughter was holding Eliza in her arms, blood pouring out from the left socket, now eyeless. A trail of blood led down into the bedroom. A look of shame was on Debbie's face, and some blood was leaking from her shoulder. "What happened?" 

The teenager gulped. "She..she came and attacked me...didn't remember a thing....amnesia", She choked out, "She tried to stab me....I blocked it...But the knife slipped....and her eye was cut.....It's my fault....I'm so sorry...." She felt like collapsing on the floor. 

Marianne was in a state of horror, and walked up over to Debbie. In a calm voice, she told her, "I can't say you won't go unpunished, Debbie, but since it was an accident....Wait how did she get amnesia?" 

"I don't know. She thinks I did it, but I couldn't have....I wouldn't hurt Eliza like that! Not on purpose anyway." Debbie let a few tears fall to the ground. 

"Let's worry about that later, okay?" Marianne placed her hand on Eliza's cheek. "Let's get the First AID." 

Debbie nodded, and set Eliza on the ground gently. She opened up one of the cabinents and grabbed the AID kit. Marianne lowered herself down and gently wiped off the blood from Eliza's face. Debbie opened up the kit and got out some supplies. The woman got a cloth out and began wiping up the empty socket, all bloodied up. She applied pressure there to stop the bleeding. She then got out surgical thread and began to sew the gash shut. 

"Mom, why are you doing that?" The blonde asked softly. 

"So that she won't get an infection there, of course." The woman said as-a-matter-of-factly. Marianne tied up the finished stitch, then grabbed some white bandages. She wrapped it around Eliza's head, over her left side of the face, covering the stitches. Some blood still seeped through, but not much. Debbie sighed sadly, still ashamed by what happened. But she was also glad that her sister was fine. 

"She'll be fine, hopefully." Marianne said, but there was doubt in her voice. "But she might need someone to be with her for a while. She's lost her depth perception."__

_'Man..'_ The teenager thought sadly. She knew all too well what it meant when one loses depth perception. She can no longer tell how far away something is, and now that her left eye was rendered useless, she could no longer see to her left side. That was her vulnerable, blind side. 

Sloan, watching, growled in disgust. He had been so close! He was hoping that Eliza would die. But that didn't happen. But then a thought crossed his mind. _'If she lost usage in one eye, then she now has a blind side.'_ The man smiled ominously. _'Perfect.'_ He was about to turn around when he suddenly fell forward. He screamed lightly and tried to regain his balance. He didn't want to attract anyone's attention. _'If they see me...'_ He thought, but he couldn't regain his balance. The poacher fell forward and smacked into the window. It didn't crack, but it made a loud thud noise loud enough for Marianne and Debbie to hear. Sloan immediately moved himself back, but the two females had already spotted him. 

"Sloan!" Marianne gasped in anger. Debbie ran out of the Commvee before Marianne could react, to face Sloan. 

"Oh, no." The poacher whispered as he climbed to his feet. He turned around, only to come face to face with the angry teenaged sister of Eliza's. The poacher backed up, but he smirked darkly. "I see you've met the new Eliza." Teeth flashed in an evil grin. 

Debbie's face scowled. "It was you, wasn't it?" She demanded, raising up a clenched fist. But Sloan was unfazed. A simple nod answered her question. 

"Why you...." Debbie growled before smashing a surprised Sloan into the ground. The man grunted in pain as Debbie grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. "How could you do that?!" She demanded harshly. Sloan tried to get up, but the teenager's weight and strength kept him down. _'Gee, I didn't have trouble with her the last time.'_ He thought as he tried to push Debbie off. 

"So what?" The poacher asked, "All I did was knock her out." As he said these words, the man reached into his pocket, and pulled out his falcon-handled knife. Debbie was too busy glaring at Sloan's face to notice the glinting sharp blade being raised outward in Sloan's hand. He thrusted the knife sideways. 

Debbie's eyes widened in pain, and her mouth dropped open in surprise. Her grip on the man's shoulders loosened up and she turned her head to her side. She was horrified to see that Sloan had stabbed her in the right side. The blade had sunk all the way in, and blood already stained a significant portion of the ground they were on. Sloan grinned as he pulled the blade out, and the blonde screamed, clutching her side. 

He walked over to the now vulnerable teeanger, ready to strike again, but then he heard the Commvee door open, and he was forced to flee back into the shadows. But he didn't leave without a warning, "I will be back for your sister...You can count on that....." 

_'Stupid thin blood..'_ Debbie wearily thought as the blood dripped down her side, staining her shirt and pants. She heard the door open from behind her. It was Nigel. He was woken up by the scream as well, and went up to check what happened. Before he left the Commvee, Marianne told him of what had happened earlier. 

Nigel looked out the Commvee door, and saw Debbie bleeding from her side. "Deborah!" He shouted in shock. The man rushed over to his oldest daughter. "What happened?" 

Debbie coughed a little, looked down at her side, then up at her worried father. "Sloan came...he was the one who...did that to Eliza..." Before she could finish, the loss of blood caused her to faint. Her body smacked into the ground. 

Nigel knelt down and slowly picked up the bleeding girl. He knew that Debbie's blood was thinner than most people, so she would bleed faster. She needed to be bandaged up and quickly! As he brought in the unconscious elder girl, he could see Marianne taking Eliza downstairs into her bedroom. He smiled, then looked down at Debbie. _'These two need some time to recover.'_ He followed Marianne into the girls' bedrooms to put Debbie in her bed as well. 

Marianne gasped when she saw Debbie's condition. "Nigel, what's happened?" 

"I'm not sure, but I think Sloan stabbed her. I'm not sure why." He let out a depressed sigh. Sloan was gone for now, but they didn't know when he would strike next, or where.... 

"Oooo....." Eliza moaned as she rubbed her head. She opened up her eyes. To her surprise, she only felt one eye open, but she shrugged it off. She grabbed her glasses and put them on. She began to walk towards the ladder, but suddenly smacked right into it. "What?" She seemed confused. She never hit the ladder before. She tried grabbing one of the bars, but she only grabbed empty air. _'I'm having more difficulty than usual. Maybe I just need to rest.'_ Eliza turned around to go back to her bed. She looked at Debbie, who was sound asleep. Eliza smiled, and gently shook her sister awake. "Deb? Come on, wake up." 

The teenager muttered. "Just five more minutes, Eliza..." She said as she looked at Eliza through one open eye. She laid back down. Suddenly her eyes snapped open in shock, and she bolted up. "ELIZA?!" She backed up away from her sister, like she was afraid or something. 

Eliza seemed hurt when Debbie backed away from her, panting in fear. "Debbie? What's wrong? You're acting like I'm going to kill you or something." 

Debbie calmed down a bit. _'She must not have remembered.'_ "Actually, Eliza, you did try." 

"WHAT?!" 

"You don't remember?" Eliza shook her head. 

"Sloan hit you to give you amnesia, and convinced to you that I had attacked you...You came and tried to kill me, but I used a blade to block the machete you were using." Eliza gasped. "But the blade slipped, and I accidentally stabbed you." She lowered her gaze in shame and regret. 

"You stabbed me...where?" Eliza questioned softly. 

Debbie looked back at her sister, tears coming from her eyes. "Look in the mirror." She pointed to the small mirror on the floor. The redhead slowly made her way towards it, caution on her mind.__

_'Where could she have possibly stabbed me?'_ The girl wondered as she picked up the small handheld mirror. She looked at her reflection and yelped. "My...my....." She panted. She could see the white bandage that covered her left eye socket. She slowly moved her hand under her glasses to touch the bandage. She pressed harder to try and feel the eye. She felt it, but it didn't feel the same anymore. She moved her right eye, hoping to feel the left eye move. Nothing. It didn't move, although it was still there. She dropped the mirror to the floor, and finally realized that her field vision was smaller. She could no longer see to her left side. 

She looked at Debbie with a look of mixed emotions. "My left eye is gone." She gasped. 

Debbie sighed deeply. "I'm sorry." 

Eliza cocked her head a little. _'I should be mad....but she said it was an accident...I don't know.' _Eliza walked over. In her heart she knew it wouldn't be nice of her to stay mad at her sister for very long. To Debbie's surprise, the young girl gave her a tight hug. Debbie looked at her sister in shock. Eliza broke from her hug for a little bit to give her sister a reassuring smile. The teenager let out a few tears of happiness as she embraced her sister back. "I love you." 

She snapped her eyes open in surprise when she heard these words. Debbie stared at her sibling, who was smiling back at her. Another tear streaked down her face as she hugged her sister tighter. She sighed. "I love you, too." 

The hug lasted a bit longer, but then they broke free from the embrace as they heard their parents coming down. Eliza returned to her bed, and took off her glasses. She rolled onto one side, and tried to go back to sleep. She kept her last eye open to look at Debbie one last time, then slowly closed it. Things wouldn't be the same again....ever.   


**_How can I just let you walk away_**   
**_Just let you leave without a trace_**   
**_When I stand here taking every breath with you, oh_**   
**_You're the only one who really knew me at all_****__**

**_How can you just walk away from me_**   
**_When all I can do is watch you leave_**   
**_Cause we've shared the laughter and the pain_**   
**_And even shared the tears_**   
**_You're the only one who really knew me at all_****__**

**_So take a look at me now_**   
**_Cause there's just an empty space_**   
**_And there's nothing left here to remind me_**   
**_Just the memory of your face_****__**

**_Take a look at me now_**   
**_Cause there's just an empty space_**   
**_And you coming back to me is against all odds_**   
**_And that's what I've got to face_****__**

**_I wish I could just make you turn around_**   
**_Turn around and see me cry_**   
**_There's so much I need to say to you_**   
**_So many reasons why_**   
**_You're the only one who really knew me at all_****__**

**_So take a look at me now_**   
**_Cause there's just an empty space_**   
**_And there's nothing left here to remind me_**   
**_Just the memory of your face_****__**

**_Take a look at me now_**   
**_Cause there's just an empty space_**   
**_But to wait for you, well that's all I can do_**   
**_And that's what I've got to face_****__**

**_Take a good look at me now_**   
**_Cause I'll still be standing here_**   
**_And you coming back to me is against all odds_**   
**_That's the chance I've got to take, oh, oh_****__**

**_Just take a look at me now_**   
  


Well that was kinda long. Not too long, though. ; Yes, this is the prequel for "Return to Dark Dimension". Poor Eliza....she becomes half blind. :( I had the idea for a little bit, and thought it would be great to use for "Return to Dark Dimension" since it makes the adventure even more perilous, since she can't see as good anymore. I've written more of RDD, but it might take a long time for me to post it up, since I'm having a bit of trouble with it. The song I used for this story is "Sister" by Creed. I love this song. ; It really fits well into the story, don't you think?   
  



	10. Reversal of Ways

Disclaimer: I do not own The Wild Thornberrys. They are owned by Klasky Csupo. I do own the characters Sakti the Blind Poacher and Sandro the Sky Poacher.   


Author's Note: The "long-waited" sequel to On The Other Side! XD Just kidding! I originally wasn't going to write this, but I thought 'What the heck?' I consider On The Other Side my best WT work, so I decided to continue it. I was gonna wait 'till I was completely finished, but I decided to give ya'all a sneak preview. Here's chapter one of the continuation in the Other Side saga. ; 

Additional note: I decided to merge this story with On The Other Side and Poisoned Lies. ; Since they're all one long story, though it'd be better to merge 'em together.   


ADDITIONAL INFO 

Soundtrack: 

1. Want-Disturbed (used in Hybrid)   
2. Don't Judge This Book-The Moffatts (???)   
3. Get Off My Back-Bryan Adams (Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron)   
4. Back in Time-Huey Lewis & the News (Back To The Future) 

Notice: The soundtrack info may change. 

BASIC INFO: 

Alternate Title: Revenge of the Dark Dimension 

Rated R: Strong violence scenes, disturbing images, blood, and scenes not suitable for young children.   


RETURN TO DARK DIMENSION   
DarkHououmon   
  
  
  
  


It swirled. It never stopped. The black darkness emptiness of it would make anyone's heart stop. The swirl was like a whirlpool. It descended down on the plains of Africa, searching and searching. It seemed to have glowing red eyes, and shifted its shape to match the surroundings. Everything through its eyes was distorted and dark. The mass of darkness just kept going and going. If it stopped spinning it would die. It had to find some volunteers to go inside it. The thing was a vortex, a dying vortex. The object spun across the plains. The dead grass kicked up into the winds swirling. The vortex stopped, and eyed what possibly be the solution to its problems. A young girl was walking next to an even taller girl. The vortex seemed to smile, and hid itself away in the tall grasses of the African plains. 

The two girls continued their walk. They weren't going far. After the recent incident, their parents had warned them not to go too far. The tallest one growled in annoyance. Blonde hair swayed in front of her face as she remarked, "This wouldn't have happened if it weren't for that stupid alternate dimension thing…" She had actually meant Eliza, but she didn't feel like outright saying it now. They were also sent on a little mission. 

"Stop complaining, Debbie, and help me carry back this firewood." 

"I wonder how we even managed to find some branches." The teenager scoffed. "You don't see many trees on the Savannah." Eliza slowly shook her head. She clung the branches close to herself, and started to walk back over to the Commvee. It wasn't too far from them, but Debbie would complain every step of the way. Sometimes the red-haired girl wondered how long she would be able to stand it before she finally snaps. She stopped. She noticed that she could no longer see her sister's shadow. She turned back, and slapped herself mentally. 

Debbie had stopped to try and get something off of her. It would've looked like she got some dirt on her, but in reality a small bug had crawled on her pants. Eliza couldn't help but laugh at her sister's reaction to a harmless beetle. "Ew! Ew!" Get this disgusting thing off of me! Gross!" She managed to swipe the small beetle off, and it flew to the ground. The teenager shuddered at the mere thought of having the insect on her. She turned to her sister laughing, and said, "It wasn't funny!" 

"Oh yes it was," Eliza sneered, "For your information, that beetle you just flicked off was as harmless as a feather." 

Debbie growled. "I don't care! I think bugs are disgusting and wrong." She remarked. Eliza narrowed her eyes in disgust, and quickened her pace. The older girl soon found herself being slowly left behind. She started to pic up her pace, and run towards Eliza. "Hey! Wait up!" 

The winds began to pick up very quickly. Darwin, who had tagged along and disappeared, reappeared by Eliza's side. He shivered, his gray fur standing on end. "Eliza, what's going on?" Debbie stopped dead in her tracks when she saw what Eliza was looking at. 

A dark cloud had formed above them. It looked almost like a storm cloud, but it had a swirl to it, and it was pitch black, not dark gray or blue. It seemed to rotate. Eliza's eyes widened. "It's the vortex!" She dropped her wood. Debbie yelped in surprise. 

"Eliza, what do you mean by….vortex?" But her sister never responded. Instead the child took off running towards the Commvee. Debbie never had a chance to react when she felt herself fall to her side. She brushed off the dust that had collected on her legs only to feel the gigantic pull of a vacuum. "ELIZA!!!" She screamed in terror. 

Eliza stopped, and turned around. She gasped. "Debbie!" She told Darwin to stay low. The girl ran back to her sister, but the powerful pull of the vacuum proved too much, and she slowly found herself gripping the ground. Darwin chattered excitedly, and made his way towards the sisters in an effort to save them. He slipped on his face, though, and couldn't regain his balance. 

"Eliza, hang on!" Debbie shouted as she reached out to grab her sister's hand. Eliza turned around and grabbed Darwin's hand as well. The 3 soon found themselves being pulled through time and space. The vortex moved and shifted. It displayed countless formulas and futuristic viewings. It pulled the 3 at light speed. Debbie looked ahead. "There's the light!" 

She pointed, a smile on her face. But something wasn't right….. "There's a possibility that we might…." Eliza never finished her sentence. They all were spat out of the vortex, and landed on what appeared to be the same land as they were on before, but it seemed different. 

The wind wasn't a friend that day. It blew bits of sand everywhere, and made it harder to see. Debbie shielded her eyes from the hot sun. "Do you know this place?" Eliza shook her head, both from confusion and disorientation. _'What a bump…'_ She slowly rubbed a raised area on her head. She looked back at her head, and saw tiny dots of red. She pressed harder, and winced at the pain. She looked at her hand, and there was a few larger areas of red. It didn't seem like much at first, but if she had a head injury, it might be serious. 

She looked up at Debbie, who had her eyes glued on the strange and yet familiar lands. "Yeah." The girl finally said. "This does look similar to what I have seen in the other dimension. If it was a vortex that took us, this might be the same dimension." A thought crossed her mind. 

"But if this is the dimension, then…why isn't there any signs of destruction?" She asked herself. "I mean, after that fight, there should still be some damage, and it doesn't take days to fix up a natural disaster. Something is wrong….." She looked back at her sister. Oh how right she will turn out to be. 

They got their answer. Well sort of. They looked up as they heard the sound of a gunshot being fired into the air. Eliza yelped as she felt something graze past her, just barely missing her shoulder. The girl shielded her eyes to look up. Something dark and shiny was hovering above them, but they probably weren't the targets. As Eliza peered closer, she noticed that the darkness was the black of the helicopter flying above them, and the shiny part was just light reflecting off of it. "It's a helicopter." She said to Debbie. 

The teenager rolled her eyes. "Yeah, thanks for stating the obvious!" _'But…that looks like Bree and Sloan's helicopter. But why are they shooting?'_ Eliza looked to the ground. _'Perhaps this isn't the same dimension as I thought it was….'_ Another gunshot. Debbie pushed Eliza to the ground. They hit the ground pretty hard, and looked back up. 

They could barely see the outline of a man hanging from a rope ladder. Judging from how he was holding the rifle in his hand, he wasn't aiming to hit them, but make them move or something. _'Why would he do that?' _Eliza wondered as her older sister held her down for safety. "Debbie, you can get off of me now." 

"How do we know that's not the evil Sloan?" Debbie asked, not taking her eyes off of the approaching figure, who was holding the rifle threateningly. The helicopter lowered down. Darwin screeched with surprise and hid behind Debbie and Eliza. The 3 finally moved back quickly as the flying machine landed right in the spot where they were previously standing. The man jumped off the rope ladder, and another person, a woman this time, leaped out. There was no mistaking. 

"Sloan? Bree?" She asked in wonder, but also in fear. She really didn't know what dimension she was in, or if she was even in another dimension. If these were the same Blackburns she had met when finding Tally, she was in big trouble. 

The man narrowed his eyes. "I see you remember us, Elizabeth." He spoke darkly. 

'Elizabeth?' "Why did you call her that?" Debbie was confused. "Her name is Eliza." 

The woman said something this time. "And hello, Deborah. Debbie Thornberry." Anger was present in their voices. 

Eliza leaned towards her sister. "I don't like this at all…" 

"Neither do I, but I don't know what to do!" Their voices were low and harsh. 

Sloan looked at the chimpanzee. He scratched his chin. The chimpanzee, Darwin, looked up at him in fear. Sloan looked back at the kids. "And how long have you Thornberrys have kept that chimpanzee captive?" 

"CAPTIVE?!" Debbie screamed in anger. She formed a fist with one hand, and pounded it into the palm of the other repeatedly. "Do you know how long he's been with us? 2 YEARS!" She grabbed her face in frustration. "And Eliza INVITED HIM no less! If I see another hair in my…..OUCH!!" 

Debbie felt something sharp smack her. She turned and saw that Eliza had hit her, her eyes narrowed. "Not one word about that little incident." 

"Little incident? I had to wash my hair in the RIVER for 2 weeks!" 

Bree cleared her voice to get their attention. "Now you girls, let's forget about that petty little argument, and worry more about what's going to happen to you." 

Eliza backed up in surprise. "Just why are you after us?" 

Debbie jumped in. "Yeah. What did we do?" 

Bree and Sloan looked at each other, as if they were wondering why they didn't know. They turned back. "You know why…poachers." Bree said in a low voice, full of hatred. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her pistol and pointed it at them. The girls' eyes widened. "Hand over the chimp and get into the helicopter." She ordered the girls. Eliza and Debbie looked nervously at each other, and back at the Blackburns. They still bore the look of hatred on them. Their guns never left their positions. They had no choice. 

Slowly, the two girls walked over to the helicopter and walked in. Darwin followed and was soon beside Eliza in the flying machine. Sloan and Bree climbed in. "Don't try anything funny." Warned Sloan. 

'Why would we?' Eliza asked herself, and held onto the seat as they began to take flight. 'Where are we being taken to, and what's going on?' Were the questions being asked by the 2 captive girls. 

Eliza peered out of the window hours later after they had taken flight. The ground looked like patterns on a blanket. She could barely make out dots running across the plains. She figured they were some antelope or something. She sighed deeply and turned her attention towards her sister. Debbie wasn't looking at anything but the two people up in the front. The teenager, for once, looked lost and confused. She turned to her younger sister, a single tear coming from her eye. 

"Eliza…" She whispered hoarsely. "Where are they taking us?" A set of darkish eyes answered their question. 

Sloan shifted his gaze to them. "Come on, you can't be that stupid, can you?" He glared at them, and then looked at Darwin. "You still hadn't handed over the chimp." He noted them. 

Eliza looked back at Darwin, who had fallen asleep on the ground. "His name is Darwin, and he isn't yours." 

"Well he's not yours either." Sloan snarled, but didn't say anything more. 'We'll discuss some issues with those poachers once we land.' He thought as Bree continued to pilot the aircraft. 

Eliza felt her head. She was surprised that Sloan and Bree hadn't noticed before. On her face was a dark black eye patch. She shuddered at the memory. Sloan had…..she gulped. She didn't want to remember. The whole sequence seemed like a dream to her, yet it had happened. She had almost wished it was a nightmare, but she knew deep down that she couldn't change what had happened. She felt the eye patch as she looked around with her one good eye. _'I can't believe I believed the evil Sloan.'_ She sadly looked at the floor. _'Then again I did have amnesia at the time. How was I to know?'_ She smiled gravely. At least Debbie was able to stop her. But sadly, Debbie regretted it, because as she had stopped Eliza, she had….stabbed Eliza in the eye. The redhead looked at her reflection, and slowly removed the patch. She winced as she saw what was left of her other eye. 

A jagged scar snaked across the eye, while the lids themselves were sown shut. She recovered the eye, and looked to the ground again. She let out a deep sigh. Her gaze slowly turned towards the window. She could barely make the outline of a building. They were getting close to landing. She turned to Debbie. 

Debbie didn't look at anyone. She just sat there, almost like she had read Eliza's mind. She looked back at her little sister, and remembered what happened earlier. Debbie still felt remorse for what she had done, but Eliza and the family knew that she hadn't meant it. 

Eliza was about to say something, but then she felt a thump. The whirling of the helicopter slowly ceased. "We're here, Sloan." They heard Bree say as she took her hands off the controls. 

"Good." Sloan replied coolly, and rose to his feet. The Blackburns looked at the girls angrily. "Come on, you two." The man said, "And if you try to run…" He pulled out his rifle and pointed it at them. The girls didn't need to be told twice. They rose up to their feet, and walked out side by side. They did not take their eyes off the Blackburns. And the Blackburns didn't take their eyes off the girls. 

The group marched towards the entrance of the building, which seemed familiar to Eliza somehow._ 'I wonder if Kip and Biederman are there…' _She thought with slight worry. But she was still wondering why Sloan and Bree thought she was a poacher. She had met these Blackburns before….did they forget? _'Maybe they….' _Then they were in a hallway, and before Eliza could finish her thought, she caught a glimpse of the calendar. _'What?!'_ Now she knew why the Blackburns didn't remember her as a good person. The calendar read May 23, 2002…which was exactly 6 months before their time period. _'We've gone back in time…in another dimension…'_ Eliza thought in shock. 

Eliza turned to look at Debbie, then looked ahead, and continued walking. Her mind was still in the state of shock. How could she have gone back in time as well? Was there something that she missed while they were in the vortex? _'If I've gone back in time, then I might have to face the poacher Thornberrys again…oh man. They almost killed me the last time!' _She mentally hissed to herself. She knew she had to get away from here…She didn't know how she could convince these Blackburns that she wasn't the enemy. The eclipse hadn't started just yet. But she couldn't tell the exact time, though. She moved her position slightly so that she was standing next to Debbie. She leaned in close to her, and whispered in the lowest voice she could muster. 

"Deb…we've gone back in time. 6 months, to be exact." The blonde took a moment to digest this new bit of information. She swallowed and widened her eyes. _'That explains a lot.'_ She wanted to run….but the Blackburns still had their guns out. They still had them pointed at the kids. If they run, Sloan and Bree might shoot them! But they couldn't just stand there…well walk around. They had to do something! 

Unfortunately, Bree had overheard part of their conversation. She didn't hear much…In fact the only thing she did hear was them talking. She growled and tightened her grip on the pistol in her hand. "Just what are you two doing?!" The woman advanced on them a little. 

Eliza and Debbie looked at each other nervously. "Nothing." They said quickly as they sped up their pace a little to try and get away from the woman. _'Sheesh, what a grouch!'_ Debbie said to herself. They kept walking in the hallway. One left turn and Eliza suddenly knew where they were. They were in the same place that Kip and Biederman had taken her! She recognized the door ahead. It was where she was temporarily held captive. She believed that was where she and her sister were being taken. 

Darwin chattered nervously and sped up his pace to keep up with Eliza. He said something in chimp language. "Eliza, what's going on?" The redhead, however, didn't respond. She was too worried about how they were going to escape alive and all in one piece. _'That's easier said that done!'_ She didn't dare look behind her. The menacing looks that the Blackburns were giving them were chilling Eliza down to the bone. She didn't notice her sister, Debbie, breaking little bits of sweat of fear. Soon they were at the door. Sloan walked in front of the others, and pulled something out of his pocket. It was a key. He slowly unlocked the door, and opened it up. Bree walked behind the too, and grabbed them by the back of their shirts. They yelped in surprise as Bree shoved them into the containment room. Before the Blackburns could do anything the chimpanzee jumped inside with the girls as the door was shut and locked up. 

"Now you two will remain in there until we figure out just what to do with you…" Sloan said in a dangerous tone, but his mind was plagued with confusing questions. He couldn't understand why the chimpanzee jumped in with them. Didn't he know they were using him for their own entertainment?_ 'Doesn't he know they are poachers?'_ Sloan asked himself. He turned to his wife, Bree, and asked, "Did you notice how that chimp…Darwin I think is what Elizabeth called him…jumped right into the room to be with those…killers?" 

The woman nodded in agreement. She also found it strange that the primate would do such a thing. She just couldn't understand it. For all they know, they just took him out of the wild and kept him with them as target practice! "And that's not all I noticed." 

The man cocked his head to the left. He lowered his rifle to the ground. "What is it?" Bree sighed, and scratched her head. 

"I could be just being…I don't know…." She sighed again, and started to twirl her dark blue hair. "But I don't recall Elizabeth having an eye patch." She turned her gaze up at her husband, eyes full of confusion. "Do you?" She asked softly. 

"Eye patch?" Sloan cried in surprise. "Yes," she added, "Didn't you see it? There was something black covering her left eye." She pointed back towards the containment room where Eliza, Darwin, and Debbie were locked up in. "If you want to take a good look, you can. But be careful. We don't know what else that Thornberry girl is capable of!" 

"Of course…of course…" The man cracked his knuckles, and brought out his rifle again just in case. He walked back towards the door. 

Inside, Debbie and her sister were discussing on how they should get out. "I don't know if we can even get out this ROOM without one of them shooting us!" Debbie screeched, pulling on her blonde hair. 

"Well we certainly can't stay in HERE." Eliza pointed towards the ground abruptly. "We have to get out of here!" 

The blonde laughed mockingly. "Yeah….right…so how do we get out, Sherlock Holmes?" Eliza Thornberry glared at the teenager harshly, then turned her head towards the door. She heard the slight sound of footsteps approaching. She slowly approached the door. 

"What are you doing?" She heard her sister ask, and responded quickly with a harsh, "Shh!" She lowered her back, halfway crouching down. She pressed herself against the steel door, and slowly raised herself up to level with the small window. She could see Sloan Blackburn headed their way with a gun. 'A gun?!' Her mind yelped. She looked at her sister with fear in her remaining eye. "It's Sloan and he's got a gun…a rifle!" She whispered. 

Debbie snapped her eyes wide open and she brought her hands to her mouth to keep herself from screaming. "A rifle?!" She almost shouted, but was able to lower it to a low whisper. 

Eliza looked back towards the door, and then backed away. She knew they couldn't run anywhere now, and she wasn't about to use the same trick she had before on Sloan. She and her sister stood in their places as they were, waiting for Sloan to open up the door and kill them, or whatever he was about to do. Darwin shook in fear and dove under the bed that was in the small room. The redhead looked at him sympathetically, then suddenly heard the clank of a key opening a lock, then the squeak of a door opening. 

The man stepped inside, the rifle loaded, and studied the girls. More specifically, he looked at Eliza. He gasped when he saw what Bree had noticed that he didn't. The eye patch was indeed there, as Bree described it! He pointed at the girl, "Why are you wearing that?" 

The girl blinked in confusion. The teenager shrugged. "Why do you ask?" 

"Because that patch wasn't there before!" He screamed in anger, but soon calmed himself down. 'If you want information you can't lose your temper all the time.' He told himself, and glared at the girls once again. "If you two try to escape…We won't be so nice…" 

It wasn't much of a threat, and Eliza's heard better, but the message was clear enough to get the idea that Sloan didn't want them to try and leave. Debbie rolled her eyes. _'Like we can even escape.'_ She didn't say that out loud for fear that the man might do something to her. She still remembered the last time she had faced him, and she does not want to relive that again! Sloan rubbed his head and seemed a bit tired. _'No..he looks depressed.'_ Eliza's eyebrow wrinkled a bit in concern, but the man never saw that. He disappeared behind the closing door and locked it. Without thinking, the young redhead rushed towards the door and tried to turn the knob. It was stuck. It was locked, she knew. 

Debbie shook her head. "Now what do we do?" She asked, sitting on the bed now, looking at her fingers. Eliza looked at the locked door, and looked around the room. There was no other way out…No window…no other door…no nothing. She shrugged fearfully. "I don't know, Deb, I just don't know…" 

In another part of Africa, near the same location as Eliza had met the evil Thornberrys, the sound of cutting could be heard. The glinting blade raised up in the air, the light of the sun shining off of it. The hand gripped it tightly and it slowly lowered down. The tip of the blade cut under something soft, furry, and thin. It then thrust upwards, creating a thin opening. The furry thing was sliced open, and inside there was a lot of bones and muscle, blood vessels…It was an animal's skin being sliced open! The blade was pulled out, and then continued working down across the animal's stomach. The animal seemed to be a cheetah cub, adolescent, female. The blade was finally set aside, the blade itself slightly stained with the animal's dried blood. The person, Elizabeth, smirked, and pushed her fingers into the animal's body, right under the skin. 

She then tightly gripped the skin between her fingers, and pulled outward. The cheetah's skin peeled off quickly, revealing the muscle structure underneath. Ignoring the gruesome sight, she continued to pull across, and then finally ripped the skin from the body. She set the fur aside, and then started working on the legs. She pushed the knife into the front right leg, and cut a thin opening, careful not to damage the valuable fur coat. She heard footsteps coming. She turned around. 

"Oh, hello…Debbie." She hissed lightly. "What are you doing here? I thought you didn't like the sight of skinning." 

The teenager scoffed, and slowly turned to the side. She adjusted her scarf, made from leopard skin, and said, "I only came here to tell you that mom and dad just got another assignment." She looked down at her little sister, who was still busy taking off the skin of the cheetah cub that they had captured previously. There were 3 others, and they plan on finding them quickly. 

Elizabeth put the knife down, and was busy pulling off the fur off the leg. "Interested?" Debbie inquired, smirking slightly. 

"Go ahead. I'm listening." Elizabeth said, but never turned to look at her teenaged sister. 

Shrugging, the teenager continued to say her message. "Dad and mom have gotten an assignment in Tembo Valley." 

"Hmm?" Elizabeth looked at her, rather confused. She asked what kind of assignment. 

The blonde chuckled lightly. "It's almost time to catch the elephants, remember?" 

Then it hit her. Of course! The elephants! In just a few hours the elephants were going to end up in Tembo Valley. They had worked weeks building a fence by the light of moon, and there was no way anyone would suspect anything to happen in Tembo Valley. It had a reputation of being a quiet place. Thinking that only elephants would be there, the authorities might leave the place alone. The mountains, rigged with dynamite, would explode and frighten the elephants. Then when the beasts were dead and stiff, they'd remove the tusks from the putrid bodies, and leave the bodies to rot. They would be worthless then. 

Elizabeth set the cub aside. "Oh, shit, I forgot all about it!" She sprung up, and ran inside the Commvee. "I gotta get ready." She disappeared inside, shutting the door behind her. 

Debbie shook her head, and then looked at the dead cub. She shuddered slightly, and backed away. _'Sometimes I wish there was a better way to get a fur coat.' _She decided to pick up after Elizabeth anyway, and walked over to the side of the vehicle. She pulled out a large case, colored black. She opened it up, and wrinkled her nose in disgust. A putrid smell filled the air. The bodies of several not-fully skinned animals were inside. She quickly grabbed the cheetah cub, and stuffed it inside, and shut the door quickly. 

"Man does this thing stink! If we don't give ourselves up to the authorities, this thing will give us away!" She put the box back, and then walked over to the table. _'Might as well put these up.'_ She picked up the strips of skin, laced with orange fur, and folded them up. She placed them inside a small containment box where the family hid some of their furs that weren't quite ready for sewing yet. She looked back at the door. Elizabeth hadn't made a peep since she went in there. What was taking her so long? Debbie walked towards the door, and reached for the knob. Then suddenly, the door swung open! Debbie was accidentally hit in the jaw, and was sent falling towards the ground. 

"Yeow! Elizabeth! Watch it!!" The teenager screamed as she caressed her injured jaw. 

The 12 year old shook her head. _'What an idiot.'_ "Well next time don't be so close to the door." She stepped out, and was now changed in her poaching outfit. She held a spear, and set it aside. She was wearing her talisman. That was probably what took her so long. The girl always seems to misplace it. Debbie suggested just keeping the stupid thing on, but the redhead wouldn't listen to her. Of course, Debbie never did figure out why her sister wore it in the first place. She just set aside that her sister believed that it brings her good luck. 

_'What a laugh!'_ She chuckled in her mind. "I still can't believe I lost track of the time…" The redhead muttered darkly under her breath. Her sister could barely hear what she had just said, so she moved in a bit closer to try and hear. 

"What did you say?" She asked softly, only to be interrupted by an abrupt arrival of one of their parents. It was sudden, she admitted. Debbie moved back from her sister and towards her mother, who had returned with a radio in her hands. 

"Debbie, did you tell Elizabeth?" She asked, despite the fact that Elizabeth was right there, packing her things. The teenager nodded quickly, and gestured towards the girl, who was now standing there, looking at them. "Eliza, why weren't you getting ready a few hours earlier?" Her mother scolded her daughter, and tapped her foot, waiting for an answer. 

The girl snarled. "My name isn't Eliza, okay? It's Elizabeth!" She rubbed her forehead. "And if you must know, I lost track of the time." 

"Tsk..tsk…" The woman should her head in disbelief, and placed her hands on her hips. She turned towards the Commvee. "Your father is meeting us in the Timbo Valley. We've gotta leave right away." She hopped inside, and took control of the wheel. 

The two siblings looked at each other, and shrugged. "Why don't you take that thing off?" Debbie asked Elizabeth as they boarded the Commvee, carrying the stuff that they needed. Elizabeth was quite annoyed by her sister's questioning. Ever since 2 years ago when she first got the talisman, her sister's been nagging at her about not taking it to so many places. She didn't know the true extent of its power. But Elizabeth couldn't tell her that. It was her little secret. If anyone else found out about it, they'd use it for their own stupid purposes. 

_'Why doesn't she shut up?'_ She mentally inquired as she harshly glared at her blonde-haired sister, who was staring at her for an answer. "I'm waiting." The teenager grew impatient. 

Elizabeth gave a few snarls, and then calmed down. "Well, it's none of your business why I keep wearing this, OKAY?!" She snapped at Debbie. Debbie flinched and drew back towards the back of her seat, a bit surprised, but not too surprised, by her sister's sudden outburst. The younger girl settled down, and stared out of the window. 

_'For someone who hates nature, she seems to like looking out the window …'_ Debbie blinked in a bit of confusion, but her mind was returned on their mission: to capture the elephants for their tusks. 

Eliza and Debbie, the good ones, sat down in the small confinement room. It's been about an hour, and they still haven't seen Sloan or Bree come by the door. Debbie was still a bit shaken up by the threat that Sloan made an hour earlier. The message was ringing through her mind. 

Darwin came out from hiding and slowly walked over to Eliza, his hands shaking in fear. "Eliza?" He whispered so they won't be heard by anyone outside. "What's going on?" 

Placing her hand over her eye patch, the young girl looked over at her best chimp friend. She let out a sigh, and started thinking on just how she was going to explain all this to Darwin. She hadn't told him much, and he doesn't understand that this Sloan and Bree weren't evil. _'How am I going to tell him? Guess I should have told him before…'_ She slowly shook her head, snapping slowly out of her trance. "Well, Dar, this is that alternate dimension I mentioned before." 

The chimpanzee gasped, "Oh no! What are we going to do?! We'll starve….uh…" The chimp slowed down, and put his hands to his side. "What's an alternate dimension? You never fully explained that…except it was some other world.." 

Eliza hit her face with her hand. "Of course! I forgot to tell you!" She stood up, and eyed Debbie, who was backed up in the corner, her scared eyes locked on the door. "An alternate dimension is not just another world..it's sort of an alternate world where some things are different and some things are the same. That's the best way to describe it, Dar." 

Darwin slowly blinked. He still didn't quite get it, but he decided to not ask anything further. He knew the seriousness of the situation, though, and knew that they had to get out of there fast. 

"Oh, just so you know, Darwin…" The chimp looked at her expectantly. "The 'me' in this dimension…her name is Elizabeth, and she and my alternate family….they're all poachers." She winced at the word. And she wasn't nearly surprised by Darwin's reaction. 

The ape looked at her as if she had gone crazy, and then his eyes widened up, and he was about to make a scream, but Eliza jumped on him, and covered his mouth with her hand. "Shh! If the Blackburns hear you, they'll think we're torturing you!" 

Darwin slowly calmed down. "So try and be quiet, okay?" Eliza told him, and she slowly got off of his back. Darwin jumped to his short feet and brushed himself off. He told Eliza that the next time she wanted him to be quiet, think of something else, don't jump on him. The girl blushed in embarrassment. "Okay, Darwin." She chuckled, then fell silent. She then heard more footsteps coming towards the door. 

Debbie heard them, too, and her whole body stiffened. "Maybe they came here to kill us!" She yelped, but Eliza shook her head. 

"If they wanted to kill us, they would have done that back in the Savannah! There must be another reason…" She quieted herself down, and looked at the door cautiously. 

Bree yawned as she reached into her pocket and pulled out the keys to the door. She didn't know why, but she just had to check on them one more time. She still wasn't sure if she truly saw the patch or not. But she was cautious. She didn't know what else Elizabeth could do. Just a few hours ago she and her husband learned Elizabeth's true colors, and now they have her right where they wanted her. She stared at the door, barely able to see anyone inside. She wanted to peer inside, but she was afraid to. _'What if they shoot me? Wait…they don't even have a gun with them..do they?'_ She shook her mind free of the questions that were plaguing her. Yet she still yearned to know. 

These were the same kids alright, but they were acting…differently. _'Why is that?'_ She reached into her pocket to pull out her second item. Her handgun…and she gripped it tightly in her palm, ready to pull the trigger if she had to. _'I'm not taking any chances….especially with Eliza…..'_ Her eyes hardened as she remembered just what had happened before… And she wished that they had seen it coming….But how could they have? Elizabeth was a great actress. She really had them fooled!_ 'If only we hadn't been so gullible…'_ Then Bree's mind wandered to the past….remembering the incident… 


	11. Darkness Revealed

The scene shifts to a different area, a different time. Not very long ago, though, only a couple of hours anyway. Sloan and Bree had just awoken from their slumber. They stretched out, and slowly got up. They had worn their clothes to sleep 'cause they weren't gonna miss the Solar Eclipse. They had received word from Elizabeth that poachers planned on attacking the elephants in the valley. They had no idea just how she figured out, but since they believed she was on their side, they trusted her. Sloan slowly looked out the window, and then gave a gasp. Elizabeth had been sleeping outside near the fire, but now she was gone! The man quickly turned to his wife, and grabbed her gently.

"Bree, where's Elizabeth? The eclipse is gonna start soon!" The woman bolted to her feet. The young girl was the only one who know when and where the elephants were going to be shot, and they hadn't a clue where Timbo Valley was. But Elizabeth told them that she did, and that she'd take them there.

Sloan Blackburn ran into the main corridor of the van. He was going to grab a flashlight, which was lying on the floor, to look for Elizabeth. It was still a tad dark out. _'Better safe than sorry.'_ He thought. But when he arrived in the corridor, it was pitch black. All curtains closed and all the monitors were off. 'What?' Sloan's eyes tried to adjust to the dark as he frantically searched for the switch.

Bree wasn't too far behind him. Just as confused as Sloan, she asked, "Sloan, why is it dark in here?" "I don't know," he admitted, "I just don't know."

"Well then," a dark voice from the shadows called out, "let me shed some light on your mystery, Blackburns!" A blinding light suddenly flashed. The light blinded them temporarily, causing them to turn their heads away.

Shielding his eyes, Sloan looked at the far end of the van, and could barely make out the shadow of a small girl. "Elizabeth?"

The shadow holding the flashlight turned the light's direction towards herself. A sinister smile was on the girl's face as her face was revealed. "Hello, Sloan." She said coldly.

Bree turned and was also shocked to see Elizabeth staring at them like that. "Elizabeth…what's going on?" The grin on the child's face broadened.

She took a step forward. Next to her was a cage. She looked at it. She grinned evilly when she saw the young cheetah inside. "So," she began, "This must be Tally, the poor starving little cheetah cub you found on the Savannah? Mother shot, am I correct?" Her voice was full of dark sarcasm. So dark that the Blackburns were becoming scared.

Bree moved back behind Sloan, who stood his ground. "Yes, his mother was shot. Shot by an extremely good sharpshooter. Why do you ask?"

Elizabeth chuckled as she stared at Tally, who hissed at her. She reached down into her pocket and pulled out a small pistol.

Bree gasped. "Oh no…!"

Elizabeth sneered in satisfaction. "I was the sharpshooter."

Sloan gasped, and swallowed nervously. Was the girl going to kill them? She was standing there, gun pointed directly at them. The look on her face was callous and dark. It was no longer innocent or friendly. "But…why?" He asked, taking a cautious step forward.

Elizabeth frowned. Her finger touched the trigger, but did not pull. With her other hand, she grabbed the cage containing Tally. She then spoke in a dark voice, "Revenge…for Ratcliffe, my grandfather."

Sloan nearly felt his heart leap to his throat. He could feel his blood almost freezing. His fingers twitched as the nerves in them prepared him to fight if he had to. He could have sworn his heart burst open as Elizabeth's cold eyes stared into his. "You're…his granddaughter?" He wanted so much to grab a hold of her, but something about her…something in her eyes made him stop right in his tracks.

Bree stared at the pistol as Elizabeth took a step forward. Seeing the look of fear in the raven-haired woman's eyes, the poacher girl smiled. Setting the cage down, she advanced forward.

"Bree!" Sloan cried as he prepared to leap at the girl. Elizabeth stopped, and turned around. She could tell the man was frightened. She could see the sweat beads rolling down the sides of his face. But his hands formed into fists, and he took a fighting stance. "Leave her alone, you poacher!"

Elizabeth didn't even look fazed. She adjusted her shades, a nasty smirk never leaving her lips. "Do you really think I'm afraid of you?" She asked slowly and coolly. _'He's pathetic.' _She thought as she walked right in front of him.

A bit shaken up, but not backing down, Sloan grabbed the dark child by the shoulders and shoved her into the wall. Bree's eyes widened in shock, and she prayed that Elizabeth wouldn't hurt her husband. "I'm not kidding!"

"Yeah, and neither am I."

As soon as those words left her mouth, she delivered a fast kick into Sloan's upper abdomen. Pain seared throughout his body. His body buckled forward. He wrapped his arms tightly around his stomach, and fell to his side. "SLOAN!!" Bree screamed as she rushed forward. She had completely forgotten about Elizabeth standing next to her husband. She knelt by Sloan's side, placing her hand on his face. "Sloan…? Sloan please…get up…" She whispered softly. She was interrupted by a cold laugh.

"Well well…isn't this touching?"

Bree turned around and glared at Radcliffe's granddaughter. "You…"

Elizabeth shrugged her shoulders. "Not my fault he's weak." She shoved one hand into her pocket, and the other still held the pistol. She wasn't planning on using it, Bree could tell. One needs two hands to properly hold it. "But what good is poaching…" She pulled out her other hand, and gripped the pistol. "…when one can't have a little fun, eh?" She chuckled as she watched the naturalist's eyes fill with terror.

"Y-You wouldn't…" Bree Blackburn stammered, tears welling up in her eyes. _'Is she really gonna do it?'_

Elizabeth blinked a few times. She seemed a bit confused at first, unsure of what to say. She looked at her pistol, and placed it on the ground. Bree sighed with relief. "I wouldn't kill you…I don't have a reason to kill you, Bree. Or your pathetic husband." Bree's eyes narrowed at this. "Of course…if you want me to go through with it…" She smiled darkly. "I'll be happy to oblige!"

Bree narrowed her eyes bravely. But it was nothing but a veneer. There was no real courage behind her defiance, and Elizabeth knew that. "Just leave us." The woman demanded, pointing to the door.

The poacher just looked at it. It was almost as if she didn't know what Bree was talking about. And then she took a stop away from the door and closer to Bree. Bree's breathing became rapid as the poacher got closer and closer to her. With Sloan knocked out, there was no one to protect her.

Elizabeth smiled as she knelt down next to Bree. She reached out with one hand and placed it on Bree's face. Her blood turning to stone, she jerked back, and swatted away Elizabeth's hand. The little girl seemed a bit disappointed. She growled under her breath, and gave the woman a harsh shove into the floor. Bree hit the ground with tremendous force. _'She's….strong…'_ Her mind thought as she weakly tried to climb to her feet. She then felt something applying pressure to her chest. Slowly, she tilted her head up to see what was going on.

The young girl stood over her. She had her hand grabbing the cloth shirt on Bree's chest, and pushing into it, keeping the woman pinned down on the ground. Bree whimpered, and grabbed the girl by the arms. She then tried to pull her off. When she did this, however, her reward was a slap on the face. Bree let out a cry of pain as her head tossed to one side, the skin on her cheek a pinkish color. Tears of pain flowing, she slowly turned her head back towards the engraged poacher, the look on her face asking the poacher why she was doing what she was doing.

Elizabeth Thornberry laughed cold-heartedly._ 'This is gonna be fun…' _She thought as she started to now tug at her grip on Bree. "Naughty naughty…" She scolded Bree as she grabbed a whole of Bree's pants, and gave a tug down. They didn't get very far because Bree had brought her legs up and used her feet to try and push Elizabeth up off of her. "What are you doing?" She asked, but she knew very well what.

"Get off of me." Bree demanded, and tried to wriggle out of Elizabeth's grasp. The poacher only sneered.

"You can't escape me." The poacher whispered harshly into the woman's ear.

Before she could do anything else, she felt a hand grab her by the shirt collar. She was hoisted up off the ground. She released her grip on Bree's chest, and the woman sighed with relief. Growling curses, she looked to see who it was. "Oh, it's you Sloan." The bored child let out a yawn. She was not impressed by this action.

Sloan's face was red with anger. "Don't you ever EVER let me catch you doing that to Bree. AM I UNDERSTOOD?!" His voice practically clamored across the van. His hand formed a fist, and he threatened to punch the little girl.

Elizabeth only gave a sly smirk. _'He knows the rules.'_ She knew what to say to get her out of this mess. She always knew. "Child abuse." Those two words caused Sloan to freeze right where he was. Elizabeth gave a satisfying smirk. She had him right where she wanted him. _'This is how I escaped the other men who tried to capture me.'_ "You'd best let me go.." She looked to the ground, smiling evilly, while her eyes drifted back up towards Sloan. This display was more terrifying than Elizabeth had wanted it to be. "…or you'll be arrested for hurting a little girl. Would you really want that?" She turned her head back over to face the poacher, and her dark eyes glinted. "Would you?"

Sloan swallowed timidly. He knew Elizabeth had him pinned down. There was no doubt about that! She was right! He couldn't hurt her. He would be arrested for child abuse! Even if she was evil, it wouldn't matter._ 'Stupid rules…' _He slowly lowered the child onto the ground and released his grip. Bree looked horrifed. "No! Soan! Don't release her!" She cried out, her hand outstretched to reach him. It was like she felt that the poacher child would kill her husband the second he let go of her shirt.

As she felt her feet touch the ground, Elizabeth couldn't help but sneer at Sloan, her eyes beaming, full of hate and darkness. She picked up her pistol, and looked at the door. She sighed. She had gotten bored already. _'They could've at least tried to fight…'_ She shrugged. She turned to walk away, but then felt someone grab her from behind. She was swerved around roughly, and found herself staring into the angry cat-like eyes of Bree. "You again? What do you want?"

"Just what were you trying to do?!"

"What..?" Elizabeth pretended to be confused.

"Don't play dumb with me!" Bree yelled. "Just what were you trying to do to me?"

The Thornberry girl blinked a few times. "I have no idea what you're talking about, lady." Her beguile voice wasn't going to fool Bree, however. The woman shoved her into the wall, and threatened to use more force on her if she didn't answer. Knowing that her trick on Sloan wouldn't work on Bree, she struggled to get away. "I'll tell you! All right! All right! Sheesh…" Bree's grip didn't loosen, but she stopped shaking her, and waited for an answer.

A weird and twisted grin appeared. Her teeth bared, and a little drool coming down, the small girl whispered the one word that sent a bolt of fear down the woman's backbone. "Rape." The woman let out a startled shout, and released her grip. She backed away in fear. Even Sloan was shaken up by this. Elizabeth tilted her head in one direction, her red hair falling across her face. "Shocked?"

Bree was too shocked to speak. She was even too shocked to move. She fell to the ground, her eyes locked onto Elizabeth's. Sloan stepped in front of Bree, as to protect her. The 12 year old slowly shook her head in disgust. She has had about enough of this lovey dovey moment. She turned around to walk away. She then stopped for a moment, and realized something. _'I nearly forgot!' _She turned back around and walked towards the cage.

Sloan instantly spoke up. He knew the little girl was armed. There was no way he'd be able to take down an armed child. But still, he had to do something to try and stop her. "Just what do you think you're doing?!"

Elizabeth chuckled. She grabbed the top of the cage. Inside, the cheetah cub was hissing at her. His ears folded back, his fur stood on end. She could only sneer at the little animal. "What does it look like?" She cooed softly as she reached into the cage with her hand. She grabbed the scruff of the cub's neck. Tally instantly squirmed, trying to escape her grasp. He slashed out at her, his claws barely touching her skin. Elizabeth shook the cub hard once, and looked at Sloan. "I'm taking away my prize. After all…" She looked at the cub. "This kitten does belong to me."

Sloan slowly shook his head in an almost defiant manner. "That cub doesn't belong to anyone!"

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes. Even with the dark shades, Sloan was still intimated by her eyes. Elizabeth let go of the cub, but still held on to the cage. Gesturing to the cub, she questioned, "Then how come you have him in a cage?" She took a step forward. She put her free hand on her hip. "Isn't the point of keeping an animal from escaping is by putting it in a cage?" She cocked an eyebrow, smiling. Sloan was speechless for a moment. He then regained his posture, and glared.

"This is different!"

"Oh really…?" The little girl inquired. "How?"

"We're trying to save him!" He yelled, fists formed in frustration. "I mean…" He ran his fingers through his blonde hair. "Tally doesn't know we're trying to save him." Elizabeth gave a long laugh. She was enjoying this. Maybe she would get some entertainment after all. She smiled darkly up at him. Then she looked at Bree Blackburn. The woman gasped, and hid further behind Sloan.

Sloan noticed this, and instant grabbed onto Bree and hugged her close protectively. Bree smiled warmly at him. "Sloan." She whispered, placing her head on his chest for comfort. Sloan smiled down at his wife. Then he looked at the poacher child with a look of determination on his face. He was going to guard Bree from the little girl, or at least try. Elizabeth wrinkled her nose in disgust. She knew things would get mushy, but she didn't think it would get that mushy. She sighed. She turned her attention back towards the little cub named Tally. He was not yet big enough for a fur coat. But Elizabeth couldn't wait to skin him. Perhaps he would make a lovely fur hat, scarf, or gloves.

She reached in and started to stroke Tally's back. He snarled and snapped at her. She removed her hand quickly. Tally only bit into air. "Naughty naughty kitty." She scolded him. "That's no way to behave." She grabbed his scruff again and yanked him against the cage bars. The cheetah let out a moan of pain, staring at Elizabeth with eyes full of fear and anticipation. Sloan and Bree could only watch helplessly as the poacher taunted the little cub. "After all, your fur is going to far better use..." She purred into his ear.

Sloan gasped. "How is killing a poor creature to use its fur as a fashion statement better?!"

Elizabeth Thornberry looked up at him coolly. Sloan could feel his heart skip a beat as she stared at him. For what seemed like hours, they just stared at each other, poacher to naturalist, child to adult. The poacher finally spoke up. Her voice was dark and sinister, and so deep it seemed to paralyze the Blackburns' souls. "A stupid animal has no need for their coats…After all, only humans are allowed to wear coats. So why not rid the dumb animals of their useless lives and coats?" She looked at the cub and smiled. "And besides, he's only an animal, so why care?"

Sloan Blackburn growled under his breath. He has had about enough of this little girl poacher. He no longer cared if she had a pistol with her or not. Without thinking, he charged forward. "Sloan, no!" Bree cried out, reaching out her hand to try and stop him. But it was too late. Sloan wasn't listening to common sense anymore. Completely forgetting about the pistol that Elizabeth was carrying, Sloan dove towards the child. He had to get her away from the cub. He had to! He wasn't going to let Tally's blood be on his hands. Elizabeth Thornberry only glared at him, then gave a toothy grin. She reached down and picked up her pistol. She slowly aimed it at him.

Sloan's eyes widened in horror, and he tried to stop his assault. But it was too late. Before anyone could react, Elizabeth pulled the trigger. The bullet soared through the air at lightning speed. It collided with Sloan's arm, slicing right thought it as though it were cheese. Sloan gave out an agonizing scream of pain. Bree shrieked in horror, and rushed to her husband's side.

"You..you…monster!" Bree hollered at the redhead. The redhead only smiled. It was as if she was happy about what Bree had said.

"Why thank you…" She commented with a sense of pride in her voice. She watched as Bree desperately tried to stop the bleeding. Sloan was groaning, obviously in severe pain._ 'Perfect…'_ Elizabeth's eyes flashed with triumph. She had lied earlier about not wanting to kill them. She believed that would lower their guard down, and it did. It worked perfectly. She was hoping to kill them both. But where would the fun in that be? It would be so boring if she killed them all so quickly. She wanted to prolong their death. "I want to have some fun with you two." She said to neither of them in particular. "Perhaps we could play a little…game…" She stroked her pistol.

Sloan glared at her. Against the pain and through gritted teeth, he gave her their answer. "We..aren't…gonna…play any…games…with…you.." He suddenly winced. The pain was growing more and more unbearable. Bree had tied a white cloth around it, but it wasn't helping much. The blood still poured out of his wound, staining the floor.

The Thornberry girl seemed disappointed. She gave a groan of disgust and rolled her eyes. "Why not? Afraid I'm going to…kill you?" She gave them a hard look. When Bree gave her a nod, a smile grew on the girl's face. "Good…" She looked back at her little catch. Tally was growing intensely distressed. He kept pacing around his small cage, watching what was going on. He meowed a few times, an attempt to call for help. But his mother was dead. There would be no help. "Awww…poor wittle kitten… Are you frightened?" She slowly pointed her pistol at him.

The little cheetah cub didn't realize what was going to happen. He didn't even look at the pistol. His eyes were too busy glaring at the poacher. He let out a loud meow and slashed at her with his claws. She dodged it with ease. She gripped the trigger of the pistol. "Say nighty night, Tally." She pulled the trigger.

Bree Blackburn was startled when she heard the loud bang of a gun echo through her trailer home. Sloan was out cold. The pain had grown too intense for him, and the blood loss was great. He'd have to be taken to a hospital. Bree quickly looked at Elizabeth, the source of the sound. Well the gun was the source of the sound. She could see a huge puddle of blood in the cage. It was dripping onto the floor. "No…" She whispered. In the cage, Tally lay on his stomach. There was a big hole in his head. The bone was exposed, and a bit of his brain could be seen. Of course the front part of the gunshot always looked clean.

Grinning evilly, Elizabeth slowly turned the cage around to let Bree see the other side of the wound, which was always more gruesome. Bree's face paled with horror. The entire back of Tally's skull was shattered. Part of his brain were dripping out of the wound, along with tons of blood. The bone fragments were all along his back. The blood vessels were hanging out, leaking out life-supporting blood. A portion of Tally's brain suddenly fell from the huge hole. It was only about the size of a nickel, but it dripped onto his back, and rolled onto the cage floor. Bree screamed in horror, and covered her mouth. Elizabeth chuckled.

Bree choked out, "What…have you…done?"

Elizabeth shrugged. "What does it look like, lady?" She started towards the door. She wasn't exactly bored, but she had to get going. Her family was waiting for her in Tembo Valley. She had to be there. "I'm taking away my prize…" She opened up the door, and swung it open. She looked back at Bree, who was holding Sloan in her arms. She couldn't leave him. Elizabeth may try to kill him if she did. "I'll finish you two off later." With that, she started running. The door remained open. The light of the sun was shining through. It was early morning still. Bree looked at her watch. She gasped. The entire incident lasted only 20 minutes. It felt longer, so much longer…

She turned her attention back on to Sloan. He was breathing rather normally. The gun shot, thankfully, only scraped the surface. There was a lot of bleeding and a lot of pain, but it wouldn't last forever. "We must stop her…" Her mind was wandering back to Elizabeth. She had to stop her…somehow…someway. No…not her…they have to stop her, and not just her. They had to stop her entire family. Bree slowly realized… "The elephants!" She shouted loud enough for Sloan to wake up.

He looked up. "B-Bree?" He slowly got up. He was still in some pain. He rubbed his head. "What's going on…?" He groaned. Bree knelt down and helped him to his feet. There wasn't much time to explain. She gently guided him towards the front of the van. She sat down in the driver's seat, and he sat down in the passenger's seat. "Where are we going?"

Bree looked at him for a few moments. As she turned the key on the ignition, she said, "We're going to headquarters. We must stop Elizabeth and her family!" The car started, and Bree started driving. Sloan wanted to ask more, but decided not to. Bree would explain on the way there…

The flashback ended. Bree shook herself back to reality. It was no or never. She put the key in the keyhole, and started to unlock the door. She was getting nervous because in the process she was making a lot of noise too. It was enough to wake Debbie up, who had taken a short nap. She got up and looked up at the door. "It's them!" She ran over to Eliza, and shook her shoulders. The young girl glared at her sister.

"What do you want, Deb?" She asked a bit bitterly. She didn't seem to be in a good mood at the moment. Though why, Debbie was sure it was because of her.

"The Blackburns are coming back!" This got Eliza's attention. She quickly swerved around, eyeing the door. She could see the door handle as it was shaking. Then suddenly, it gave one smooth creak and turned to one side with ease. The door moved open a little. Then a foot pressed against the door, and it was kicked open. The door swung swiftly and slammed against the wall. The girls and chimp gave a gasp of surprise. Bree walked inside the doorway. Though the girls couldn't see it, the woman was sweating with anxiety. It took guts for her to even come to the door. For all she knew, Eliza could pull out her weapon and kill her right now.

Eliza and Debbie were tense. They froze, still as stone statues. They kept their eyes on the raven-haired woman. They waited, watched. Bree narrowed as she saw Eliza's black patch. So it wasn't imagined. She pointed at the patch that Eliza was wearing. "Why are you wearing that?" She asked sternly and firmly. Eliza blinked with confusion, but then remembered Sloan had asked the exact same question.

"Your husband…I mean Sloan…Mr. Blackburn…anyway he already asked me." She stammered, her body shaking.

"Why do you want to know anyway?" Debbie asked, brushing her blonde hair aside so that both her eyes were visible. "What business of it is yours anyway?"

Bree slowly shook her head. She put her gun back in her pocket. Chances are she wasn't going to need it anyway. "Just a few hours ago, you weren't wearing that patch." She gave a sigh. "And now all of a sudden you're wearing one." She tilted her head. "Why?" She cocked an eyebrow. Eliza and Debbie slowly looked at each other. They seemed to think the same question. What was she talking about? Darwin scratched his head. The grey chimpanzee was confused. Of course he was. He didn't know what they were saying.

Eliza Thornberry turned her head to face the naturalist woman. "If you must know, I'm half blind." She rubbed her eye patch. She had no idea why she had told Bree Blackburn this. But if she and her husband were insisting on knowing why she was wearing a black patch, she might as well tell them. "I lost sight in my left eye after an accident."

Bree narrowed her eyes slightly. _'Is she telling the truth or not?' _She took a step forward. Eliza, intimidated, took a step back. Debbie was about to move, but Eliza gave her a look that told her to stay put. So reluctantly, Debbie held her ground. Then she turned her attention to Bree. The woman peered closely at Eliza, her eyes borrowing into her single eye. "Are you sure you're telling the truth?" Eliza gave a quick nod. "Then let's have a look, shall we?" She reached over to the black patch. She was just about to grab it when she heard a voice behind her.

"Bree?" It was Sloan. He had noticed the door open, and came to investigate. He never expected to see Bree inside though. Though it did make him feel relieved. He had thought they escaped._ 'At least they didn't get away.'_ The two Thornberry children were still inside, thankfully. They stared in shock as they saw Sloan now enter the room. He rubbed his eyes a little. That told them that he must've been sleeping for a while, just like Debbie had. "What are you doing?"

"Sloan," Bree said, ignoring his question, "She said she lost her eye after an accident." Sloan blinked a few times. He looked at Eliza, the look in his eyes telling her that he didn't believe her. She couldn't blame him. After all, she herself had fallen victim to Elizabeth's trick. Though in the end she did become friends with her. She could remember what had happened.

_Eliza sighed, and looked at her counterpart. Elizabeth crawled out from her hiding spot. She looked at Eliza. Both of them had a depressed and shameful look on their faces._

They stepped forward towards each other, and said in unison, "I'm sorry." They stopped with a surprised look on their faces, and blinked.

Eliza asked, "Why are you sorry? I'm the one who didn't believe you." The poacher looked at her shamefully. Her gaze fell to the ground. 'Why would she forgive me?' A tear finally escaped her eyes, and the light girl gasped.

"I'm sorry for what I did back there." Eliza's face registered with confusion. She wondered what this girl could be talking about. Elizabeth may have been her alternate form, but she could not understand why or what this girl was sorry for.

"For what?" Elizabeth closed her eyes and felt a little trickle of tears run down her face and smash into the ground. Although it was small, to her it sounded like a giant wave crashing into the rocky surface of the beach.

"I'm sorry for what I've done to you. Sorry for hurting animals. You know the whole deal." Eliza couldn't help but feel morally shocked by this strange turn of events. 'She's supposed to be my evil counterpart. Why is she acting like this?' Then something clicked. She may have realized the error in her ways, and wanted to make up for it. Eliza smiled, and stepped towards her mourning counterpart.

"It's okay, Elizabeth." She placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. She looked up. "I forgive you." Elizabeth blinked her eyes a few times and more tears ran down her face. She smiled weakly as more tears came to her eyes. She fought to keep them back. She didn't want to be seen crying. But Eliza had already seen this, but decided to keep it quiet. _'I guess that not everyone wants to be seen like this. I understand.'_

"Is this true?" Sloan's voice had brought Eliza back to reality. She quickly nodded her head. Sloan sighed softly. "Why should we believe you anyway?" He gestured towards his arm, which until know, they hadn't noticed the bandage wrapped around it. "Last time we did, you did this to me!" He scolded her angrily. Eliza backed away. Suddenly paralyzed with fear as she remembered what the evil poacher Sloan had almost done to her in their native dimension, Eliza began to shed some tears. Sloan was taken completely aback by this. Debbie wrapped her arms around Eliza and held her close, stroking her hair, trying to comfort her.

"Never mind. I think we know enough." Bree turned to walk away. But she stopped when she realized Sloan wasn't following her. "Sloan?"

The blonde man glared at Eliza, but his vision softened. "Let's hear her side of the story, shall we?" He rolled his eyes. "Let's see what kind of excuse she comes up with this time…"

"I-I don't think we should…" Bree began, but Sloan interrupted.

"You want to know the truth or not?!"

Debbie glared at them both. "Why can't you two leave her alone?" She placed her head on Eliza's hair. "Can't you see you're scaring her?" She growled softly, baring her teeth in anger.

Sloan smirked. "Aww… scaring you?" He tilted his head. "Like you scared us out of our wits?" Eliza just continued crying. She felt scared, even though this wasn't the Sloan that she knew. Sloan felt something nudge him. He looked. "Bree?" She gave him a sharp glare. Even if Elizabeth was evil, Bree couldn't have Sloan stoop to her level and scare the wits out of her. After all, Bree still had a soft spot for children. She looked at Eliza with a gentle look in her eyes.

"Come on…tell us…Tell us how you got that injury…" She whispered softly, almost motherly. Eliza looked at Debbie, as though to ask her if she should tell. The teenaged girl gave a small nod. She thought might as well tell them anyway.

Eliza sighed. "Okay…I'll tell you…"

_Debbie didn't look back. She was too busy wondering why her sister was acting the way she is. It didn't make any sense! Eliza never acted like this before! They had fought before, but Eliza never pulled out a knife to her like that, especially in a threatening manner. However, Debbie wasn't paying attention to where she was going, and tripped over a vine._

"Ow!" She yelped as her face hit the ground. She struggled to get up on her feet, but then she heard a snort, then a cry.

"What?" She asked, but as soon as that word left her mouth, she felt someone pushing her into the ground. Eliza had leapt out from behind when Debbie wasn't looking, the machete in her hands. The two sisters skidded across the grassy floor, and finally came to a stop in the middle of a group of trees. Debbie didn't look right away. She gave a few gasps, then turned her head around. Eliza used one hand to pin the blonde into the ground. She held the 26 inch machete in the other hand, and raised it high above the older girl's head. She felt her fear rise within her.

"Eliza, don't...." She whispered softly, hoping that Eliza would realize the truth. But the redhead seemed unfazed, and tightened the muscles in her arm, preparing for the blow.

"It's too late, sister." The redhead's voice sounded vicious, like Sloan's. 'Could he have something to do with this?' Debbie wondered. Her eyes, widened in horror, locked on the sharp end of the blade. She then looked at her younger sister. The look on her face could make anyone run away in dread. Her eyes bore the look of hatred, even stronger than hatred. They no longer had the life in them as they had before her disappearance.

'Why?' Debbie wondered. Eliza's face contorted into a vicious grin, and whispered, "Die." The teenager's mouth dropped open in terror and the blade swung down. Debbie closed her eyes tightly, and waited for the blow. But to her surprise, she felt the swoosh of the blade striking to the side of her head, and hitting the dirt.

The teenager seemed confused. "Wha..?" She murmured, and opened up her eyes. She looked up at her sister. Eliza seemed frozen in fear. Her face still had the angered snarl, but her eyes had softened up, brimming with tears.

"I...can't...." Eliza whispered softly.

"Eliza?" Debbie asked, concerned as Eliza started shaking.

Eliza wasn't listening. She continued to shake as if in fear of something. Inside her mind she was debating with herself. 'She's my sister! No matter what she's done, I can't....' A flash of anger went by. 'But she is the one who attacked me...Still....' She dropped the machete on the ground, and clutched her head. "Why can't I do it?!" She screamed to no one in particular.

Debbie rose to her feet, taken aback by this display of emotion. "Eliza?" She whispered again. The younger girl still didn't move, almost like she was no longer aware of her surroundings. Debbie cautiously moved forward closer to the troubled little girl. 'I must....' Eliza's eyes snapped open, and she suddenly leapt at Debbie again. The teenager yelped in surprise when she was pushed into the ground yet again.

"Eliza!" She screamed in surprise. "Stop!" She pleaded, but the machete was above her head once more.

"I will not be distracted anymore." The dark voice hissed at Debbie, and made her spine freeze in fright. In an effort to save herself, Debbie kicked Eliza in the stomach with her knee. The small girl yelped in pain and got off her sister and held her stomach. A little bit of blood trickled out of her mouth. She gave a few growly gasps, and glared at her sister. "You..." She said threateningly.

'Oh man...' Debbie backed away from the enraged girl. The machete raised again. Debbie looked back towards the Commvee. Everyone was probably asleep by now. 'I don't think I should wake them....but....' She looked back at her sister, who was advancing dangerously. 'I don't think I have a choice.' Without warning, Eliza sprang up to attack. Debbie ran towards the Commvee, and Eliza hit the ground. She snarled as she climbed back up to her feet, and took off after her sister again.

The next minute, the teenager was in the Commvee, trying to find a place to hide. She saw something sharp on the floor. She picked it up. 'A knife.' It wasn't nearly as big as the machete, but the blade was thicker than the machete's blade. It would do to keep the blade from hitting her. Debbie held onto it as she continued to move down in the darkness of the bedroom. She hadn't a clue if Eliza would find her in the dark so easily. Debbie slowly rose to her feet and looked around the room dreadfully. She slowly backed up, wondering where Eliza could be. She then bumped into something soft and stiff at the same time. She then heard a dark chuckle, and eyes grew wide.

"No....not.....don't...." She muttered indistinctly, eyes closed now. Reluctantly, she slowly turned around. Standing right behind her was Eliza! Giving a gasp of shock, the teenager fell to the ground.

The darkness made Eliza seemed more menacing then ever. The shadows almost completely hid her face. The only thing showing was her glasses, shining in the moonlight, and the parts of her face that were being reflected on by her glasses. The machete glistened in the little light their was.

An ominous smile covered her face, her teeth bared like a crazed animal. "Don't try to hide it. You know you're guilty!" She spoke in a deep, dark voice. Debbie, on her back, backed up as fast as she could but Eliza advanced to quickly. Before she knew it, Debbie once again was pinned down by her sister. This time, Eliza had grabbed her throat to hold her down.

Undying horror filled her mind as the teenager saw the machete rise above her head once again. There was no turning back, she knew. Eliza wasn't going to stop this time. She quickly looked at the knife that she had found, and knew it was her only hope. The machete swung down! Without thinking, Debbie quickly pulled the smaller yet thicker knife up above her head, and heard a loud clanking sound of metal hitting metal. She opened her eyes and stared up. The machete had stopped right in front of her face, thanks to the blade. A look of anger and frustration was what she could see on Eliza's face, and the redhead tried hard to get loose of the smaller blade and dig the machete into her blonde sister.

Eliza grunted in anger as she continued to push hard on the blade. Debbie tried her best to keep her ground. 'I hope this works.' She prayed, her eyes locked on the sharp blade of the machete, which was so close to her face. The girls felt their arms tire, but they wouldn't give in so easily. Debbie hoped that if she gave one final push, the machete would slip and get stuck in the Commvee. So she started to push harder, to Eliza's surprise. 'She's still going for it.' She thought, but hatred still clouded her judgement. But then, without warning, the blades slipped, and not in the way that Debbie was hoping.

The machete did get stuck in the ground, but cut her along the shoulder. The small knife whipped upwards and hit something with a sickening sound. An ear-piercing scream shook the Commvee. Debbie finally gathered the courage to look up. A drop of something wet landed on her face. 'Yuck.' She muttered as the liquid seemed slimy almost. She looked up. A gasp of horror escaped from her mouth. She let go of the handle of the knife, but it remained in tact in what she had stabbed. She brought her hands to her mouth and tears started to gather behind her eyes.

Eliza gritted her teeth in pain, letting out a few gasps of breath. The knife had stabbed her in the eye, going right through it! The knife was stuck. She grabbed the handle herself and started to pull out the blade. It came out, and she screamed again. Debbie watched in shock as the eye socket swelled shut, looking so swollen it seemed as though a bee stung her there. She almost felt sick to her stomach. Eliza dropped both blades as she slowly sank to her knees. The blood covered her face, and she frantically tried to wipe it. The blade had sliced her eye up from down below. Her glasses were still in tact. Her hands started shaking, and her face grew pale.

"Eliza....." Debbie whispered sadly and shamefully. The body of the redhead collapsed onto her stomach, a small pool of blood gathering around her face. Debbie rushed to her side, and slowly turned her over. There was a deep stab on the left side of her face, and also a jagged cut. Eliza must've accidentally hurt herself more when she pulled out the blade. Debbie felt a lump in her throat as she held back sobs. "Eliza." She said again, and slowly picked up the fallen child, and carried her up.

"And that's what happened." Eliza finally finished her story. The Blackburns seemed shocked.

"Why did you attack your sister?" Sloan asked softly.

Eliza slowly shook her head. "You would never believe me if I told you…" She then remembered. "Then again, you probably don't believe me now." Sloan did realize she had a point. But he still wanted to know who or what made her act like that. It wasn't like Elizabeth to attack her own sister. Then again, it wouldn't have surprised him at all…

"Come on Sloan, let's go." Bree said, placing her hand on his shoulder. He was about to protest, but she gave him a sharp glare. "We'll question them more tomorrow, okay? Right now we have to go stop the other Thornberrys." Sloan sighed. He knew she was right. Reluctantly he followed Bree, leaving the Thornberry children to wait. 


End file.
